


The Nightbloods

by justburnitwithfire



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, And no one from the main couples will be dying, But there's going to be a lot of happy, F/F, F/M, Gen, Graphic Depiction of Abuse, M/M, also mentions a lot of death, lots of sad times
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-25 16:27:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6202582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justburnitwithfire/pseuds/justburnitwithfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A nightblood is the child of a pureblood witch or wizard who was a former follower of Lord Voldemort or who practices in the Dark Arts. Many people hold them accountable for the crimes they had nothing to do with. Lexa just wants to escape her cruel life and as she starts her schooling at Hogwarts, she has a chance to do just that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Are you ready? This is going to be following the point of view of Lexa as she navigates through life before, during, and after Hogwarts. I'm not really sure how long it's going to be yet (I'm honestly just kind of going along for the ride with this one), but I've been wanting to write something The 100 mixed up in the HP universe for awhile now. This first chapter is just going to outline everything before her first year and introduce some of the big players in this story. I'm hoping to learn some more of the nightblood names before I release the next chapter (hence where the original characters are coming from). Anyway, please enjoy!

Lexa was only six years old when she realized how cruel the world could be for the first time. Up until that moment, she felt like she had had a fairly normal childhood. She had loving parents who just also happened to be wizards. Perhaps that wasn’t normal amongst most children her age, but it was perfect for Lexa. Her father taught her how to ride a broomstick just a year prior and she had loved the feeling of being free that being in the air gave her. She fondly remembered him placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, showing his bright white smile. Pride was the only thing Lexa could remember seeing in his eyes. Her mother brought them lemonade shortly after, reminding her not to fly so high. Concern was the only thing she remembers in her mother’s eyes.

It was hard to believe that a year later, her whole world would be shattered when a wizarding police force rushed their home in the early hours of the morning. She stood terrified at the top of the stairs, watching her father kill a man with a complex spell she had never heard before (and hoped to never hear again). She watched her mother curse another man into insanity as the other wizards forced their way into their home. After being whisked away from the scene much later, Lexa watched her mother being restrained as her father lay dead on the ground.

Much later, she would find out that there was a locked door behind a bookcase in their house that led to a basement she didn’t know that they had. She would find out that there were corpses from three missing Aurors. There was also the mangled body of a muggle girl whom she had become slightly smitten with from a park nearby that had disappeared and never returned. Lexa was ripped from her home that day, barely over the age of six, and thrust into a world where she was held accountable for her parents’ actions. They were death eaters, she was later told. Former worshippers to Voldemort, escaped to a countryside to raise their daughter and to hide their illegal activities.

The world held a name for her too; nightblood. A pureblood whose family name had been tainted by dark magic. She was sent away to live with the other children left to bare the weight of their parents’ crimes.

* * *

“I want your cookie, Lexa, and I won’t ask again,” an older girl demanded, glaring down at the lithe girl in question.

“You’ve already taken my cookie every day this week, Ontari. Please just let me have this one,” Lexa pleaded, but the other girl slapped the cookie held in her weak grip to the ground, driving the heel of her shoe into it until all that was left were crumbs and chocolate chips. With a snarl, she returned her glare to Lexa.

“Learn your place,” Ontari snapped, returning to her own seat in their small dining area amongst her other friends. As usual, their caretaker turned a blind eye.

The Cerra Sisters orphanage was the only orphanage willing to take in all the abandoned nightbloods and it was run by both Alie and Becca Cerra. Miss Becca was the kind owner willing to open up her home to the children in need. Miss Alie was her twin sister and while she seemed to care strongly for her sister, she cared nothing for the twelve children in their care. With a warped smile, she watched the bullying take place and helped herself to another spoonful of stew.

Lexa sighed and grabbed her napkin to clean up the mess on the ground knowing the penalty for leaving it there. She tossed the crumbled cookie onto her tray and rose to deposit her trash in the nearby garbage can. Ontari watched with a smirk from her seat and Lexa tried to will away the burning on her cheeks.

“Woods!” A cry came out from the doorway and Lexa stopped in her tracks. She dropped her tray with the others and turned to face her other caretaker.

“Y-yes Miss Becca?” she stuttered, rushing to greet the nicer of the two sisters. Miss Becca smiled down at the meek young child and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

“Next week were are taking the older children to Platform nine and three quarters. Since you will be joining them next year at Hogwarts, I wanted to know if you would care to come with us?” she asked, a genuine smile on her face. It was haunting to think that the same face could bare such haunting looks as well. She looked at Miss Alie sitting at the main table out of the corner of her eye, confirming her fears of that very grin.

“I-If you don’t mind me coming a-along, then yes please,” she replied and Miss Becca’s smiled widen.

“Wonderful. Now run along, I believe it is your turn for dish duty tonight,” she dismissed and shooed the girl off towards the kitchen. Lexa left, her head down, as all the other nightbloods watched her go. In the safety of the kitchen, Lexa let out a sigh of relief. As she began to prepare the sink, she saw a bag sitting on the corner of the counter with a note attached. Hesitantly, Lexa grabbed the note as she noticed there was a cookie in the bag.

‘Lexa, you need to learn to be brave in the face of conflict. This is a onetime thing. –Miss Becca’

Lexa choked back the tears the threatened to fall as she clutched the note to her chest.

* * *

One week later, Lexa found herself standing in front of a solid brick wall. Seconds before, she had watched six of the other nightbloods disappear within this very wall, but she found herself unable to will her feet forward to follow them.

“Lexa, you need to be brave,” Miss Becca said, gently pushing the girl’s back. Lexa shallowed the lump in her throat, nodding slowly.

“I can be b-brave,” she said, reassuring herself more than responding to her caretaker. Miss Becca nodded as she moved forward to follow the other children through the wall. With one last look across the muggle train station, Lexa took a few steps forward and closed her eyes. Expecting to meet the cold brick against her skin, she merely felt a tickle as she passed through the invisible doorway. Opening her eyes, she saw Miss Becca smiling down at her with the other children waiting less than patiently behind her.

“About time,” Ontari muttered to another nightblood girl and they both laughed at her expense. Lexa felt her cheeks go red, but said nothing. Miss Becca turned to shoot the other girl a sharp look.

“When you return to winter break, we’re going to be having a talk about your attitude, Ontari Azgeda. I’ve had enough of your fresh mouth,” Miss Becca said, causing the other girl to stop laughing. She shot Lexa another glare before joining her friends on the train.

“How come the others don’t get their own animals, Miss Becca?” Lexa asked, moving forward to stand next to the older woman. Miss Becca watched to make sure all six heads made it onto the train.

“The orphanage can only afford one owl right now, so they’re expected to share poor Titus while they are away,” she explained, placing a comforting hand on Lexa’s bony shoulder. “You’re more than welcome to send them letters, if you want though.”

“Thank you, Miss Becca,” Lexa replied, knowing full well that day would never come. The others weren’t as cruel as Ontari, but they weren’t exactly friends either. The two of them watched wordlessly as the train gave one last warning before it slowly began moving along the tracks. Once the train was little more than a speck in the distance, Miss Becca released a small sigh before turning to face Lexa.

“Let’s return back now, I think Miss Alie is cooking some kind of fish for dinner tonight.” Lexa felt her stomach drop at the thought of the other woman’s cooking, but kept her face neutral.

“Sounds w-wonderful,” she replied, grabbing the elder’s hand as they turned to leave. 

* * *

Lexa planned on enjoying the four months between the other nightbloods leaving and their return for the winter break, but her plans were quickly derailed as they usually were. Early October, Lexa and the five other nightbloods still at the orphanage (all a year or two younger than her) found themselves in their best dress clothes standing over the freshly marked grave of one Rebecca Marie Cerra. Tears threatened to spill down Lexa’s face, but she refused to let them fall. Miss Alie stood stone-faced next to the young children, saying nothing to comfort them. Lexa had thought she saw a tear form at the side of her eye, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. ‘Be brave, Lexa,’ the kind words of the older woman echoed in her ears and not for the first time, Lexa found herself wondering if she could handle the weight on her shoulders.

* * *

Things descended into chaos at the orphanage quickly after the passing of Miss Becca. Miss Alie had restrained herself over the course of the four years that Lexa had lived there, but the passing of her sister seemed to snap her willpower to restrain herself. She allowed the beast that lurked in her heart to be free and turned all her anger towards the children.

“You are all here because you don’t belong anywhere else. My sister gave you the chance to live a better life, but you barely deserve life at all. You are essentially the mistakes your parents couldn’t be punished for. And you will work for that miserable life.” The words were harsh and the more Miss Alie said it to her, the worse Lexa began to feel.

‘Be brave’ she reminded herself as she began cooking all the meals for the other children. ‘Be strong’ she learned as Miss Alie threw another bowl of attempted food at the wall. ‘Don’t let them see your weakness’ she swore as the beatings got worse. 

* * *

Three more months seemed to fly by after the passing of the kind caretaker and soon the six other nightbloods were returning home for break. Lexa had heard from Miss Alie that Ontari and another nightblood, Yasmine, were both sorted into Slytherin. That made three Slytherins, two Ravenclaws, and a Gryffindor amongst them so far. Miss Alie had been a former Slytherin herself while Miss Becca had been a Hufflepuff. Lexa wished for nothing more to be a Hufflepuff like her former mentor. She knew that both of her parents, Clifford and Isabella Woods, had both been Slytherins as well.

“You’d be lucky to be a Slytherin. Ravenclaws have knowledge, but no real brains. Gryffindors are stupid and reckless. And Hufflepuffs have nothing tangible to their names,” Miss Alie had snapped at her as she watched Ontari drag her trunk through the door.

“Yes, Miss Alie.” The lack of emotion in her response earned a slap upside the head as the older woman disappeared into the building. Ontari gave her a strange look, seemingly torn between anger and sympathy. Her eyes seemed to linger over the black swollen eye that Lexa bore from an earlier punishment, but didn’t comment on it.

“Was her service nice?” the other girl asked after a minute, the words weighing heavy on her tongue. Lexa felt it pierce like swords through her chest, but forced herself to nod slowly. The past few months were filled with so much suffering in the orphanage, but those who were at school were spared from the brunt of it. Lexa felt herself grow bitter at the thought.

“She went quickly. The illness was sudden and it was painless, or so the healers said,” Lexa explained, feeling her voice tremble slightly at the words. Ontari nodded, but said nothing more. Lexa wanted to ask why she didn’t return, knowing she had sent a letter with Titus to the other children, but kept her mouth shut. Silence had always been easier than confrontation. She turned to leave, but Ontari grabbed her arm. Lexa flinched and withdrew her arm as if the touch physically pained her.

“This doesn’t change anything between us,” she whispered roughly. Her eyes darted around the room to make sure no one else was there listening to them and Lexa felt her neutral mask slip slightly as she barred her teeth at the other girl. ‘Be brave.’

“Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. I won’t stand for it anymore,” she snapped back. Ontari flinched, never hearing the other girl talk to her in such a manner. Her own signature glare fell back in place as she turned away with her trunk in tow.

“You were never worth my time anyway.”

* * *

The other nightbloods returned back to school sooner than Lexa expected and she was once again spared from the brutal backlash from Ontari and her friends. Spring was just around the corner when Miss Alie got a strange visitor in the middle of the night. She kicked Lexa out of bed, telling her to go prepare a few sandwiches and some tea and bring it to her office right away. The moon hung high in the sky and Lexa was startled to be woken in the middle of the night, but she said nothing as she made her way to the kitchen to prepare the food as ordered.

“Miss Alie?” Lexa knocked on the door, having learned once the hard way what would happen if she ever opened the door unannounced. There was a wand burn scar on the inside of her left arm to prove it.

“Enter,” a voice called back. Lexa pushed open the door, a tray balanced in her right hand. Inside the office sat Miss Alie and another man. Lexa rushed forward with the tray and placed it before her caretaker. As she approached the desk, she noticed there was a small blonde boy on the other side of the man.

“Lexa, meet Aden Marsh,” Miss Alie said, gesturing down at the small child. He barely looked like he was five and he trembled under the scrutinizing stare she gave him. The older man cleared his throat as he rose from his seat.

“The ministry will increase your funding to support another child. We will talk about this in a more appropriate setting. Please ensure his care,” the man said before leaving the office. Miss Alie sighed as she rose from her own desk.

“Take him back to your room for the night. Feed him and see him off to bed. We’ll deal with this in the morning,” she snapped and gestured for them to get out. Lexa grabbed the tray again and took the quivering hand of the boy. He stiffened at her touch, but she gently ran her thumb over the back of his hand as she led him away.

“Come with me.” Her words were meant to be soothing, but she was tired and unsure of how to proceed. The other children weren’t that much younger than her and he reminded her too much of herself when she had first arrived. He nodded and fell into step with her as she guided him across the small building. She pulled him into her room and released his hand to close the door behind them.

“The children here are separated by age and gender. There’s an odd number of girls here, so I have my own room because I’m the middle female,” she explained, gesturing for him to follow her to her bed. Aden hesitated at first, but dropped down wearily onto the thin cotton sheets.

“My parents are dead,” he declared, grabbing one of the sandwiches that were sitting between them. Lexa felt her heart ache at the exclamation, feeling familiar memories rush to the surface.

“My dad is dead too. My mother is in Azkaban,” she told him, trying to comfort him. Her words seemed to do the trick as he nodded and scooted closer to her on the bed.

“I’m scared,” he admitted. She felt herself gingerly touch Aden’s shoulder, remembering how good it had felt when Miss Becca had done the same for her.

“You need to be brave, Aden. Things are rough around here, sometimes harder than I think we deserve. But you are alive and surviving is the most important thing in life. Otherwise, you have nothing,” she told him. She felt her heart drop as tears welled in his eyes, but she pulled him closer, muffling his sobs. “Still, I will protect you the best that I can.”

“T-thank you,” he stammered, his tears staining her pajama top.

* * *

Like herself, the others tended to avoid him. Lexa and Aden grew close quickly since his arrival, but that only seemed to fuel Miss Alie’s wrath. The beatings became worse and Lexa often found herself confessing to things she didn’t do to spare the young boy from the suffering. She had never felt so protective over another person, but vowed to keep Aden out of the worst of life. She taught him to cook (a skill she had just started to perfect over the months), taught him to keep his mouth shut, and taught him to be brave.

The school year came to an end faster than she had predicted and Lexa felt herself fear the return of her childhood bully. She had felt like she had grown so much so quickly over the past months, more so since Aden’s arrival, but four years of torment were hard to forget.

“Don’t encourage her. Just ignore her if you can,” Lexa warned Aden when Miss Alie returned from the train station with the others. However, when she returned, there were only five nightbloods with her.

“Which one is she? Wait… I thought you said there were six of them?” Aden whispered to her, his eyes roaming over the other children. Lexa approached the others with worry in her eyes.

“Where’s Ontari?” she asked, her question directed towards all of them. Yasmine, the closest thing the Ontari had to a best friend, scoffed as she left to return to her once shared room. Lexa briefly watched her dirty blonde ponytail disappear around the corner before the rest of the nightbloods followed after her. Miss Alie waited until the others were gone before walking forward and forcefully shoved Lexa into the wall next to them. Lexa felt an unfamiliar pop in her shoulder as it met concrete in the worst way. She sucked in a pained breath, trying to force herself not to scream. 

“Ontari Azgeda was adopted today, but don’t get too excited. Something like that would never be lucky enough to happen to you,” she snapped before leaving the two of them in the doorway of their small home. Aden rushed to Lexa’s side as she heaved, holding her pained shoulder.

“Are you alright?” he asked, unsure of what else to do. She nodded dumbly and stumbled towards the kitchen with Aden at her heels. Once they pushed through the thick metal doors, he rushed forward to fill a bag with ice. Lexa tried to pry her grimy old shirt off with only one arm, but struggled to get it over her injured shoulder.

“You’re pathetic,” a voice called from the doorway as Yasmine entered. Lexa glared at her, but noticed the same anger was not mirrored on the other girl’s face. “Let me help.”

“I don’t need it,” Lexa hissed in pain as Yasmine stepped forward and forcefully pulled her gray shirt off, leaving her in a simple black training bra.

“You’re welcome,” she snapped as Aden rushed up with the ice. The skin around her collarbone and shoulder was beginning to bruise rapidly. As soon as the cold bag touched her bare skin, she winced and groaned. Aden panicked as he pulled the ice away and Yasmine grabbed a dish towel off the table. She snatched the ice out of the boy’s hand and wrapped it in the cloth before handing it back to him.

“Why are you doing this?” Lexa wheezed, trying to block out the pain as Aden tenderly placed the ice against the quickly swelling joint.

“Well, considering Miss Alie just moved me into your room, I figured it was best we started to get along,” she explained, but there was no real sincerity to her tone. Lexa gritted in teeth as Aden grabbed her hand with his free one and held on tight.

“I don’t like you,” she muttered, but the fight in her voice was starting to dissipate. She knew Yasmine wasn’t a threat after her actions, but she searched the other girls chocolate brown eyes for a clue as to why she helped at all.

“I don’t like you either. I don’t even know him. But I just lost my best friend and I don’t particularly like any of the other kids here. I figured maybe we could try to play nice,” she offered. Lexa nodded and tried not to focus on the agonizing pain that seemed to spread through her whole upper torso.

“This is Aden. He’s five, turning six in a few weeks. If we’re playing nice, then you play nice with him too,” she demanded. Yasmine was a few inches taller than herself and almost a full foot taller than Aden as she turned her attention to him.

“Aden, I’m Yasmine Cline. My parents kill six people while I watched and now they are rotting away in Azkaban. Everyone thinks I’m some psychopath because of it, but I’m not. I imagine you’ve had something similar?” At his nod, she continued. “We all need to stick together. Hogwarts… it isn’t kind to us.”

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked, unsure what the other girl meant. She never talked to the older children and didn’t know much about Hogwarts other than what she overheard. Yasmine frowned as she leaned against the cold metal countertop next to them.

“We know what we are here. Nightbloods. Our parents made their decisions and now we pay for it. But at Hogwarts, it’s worse. Because they don’t know us like we know each other. To them, we’re these freaks who come from pain and death. All we really have is each other there,” she explained. The small part of Lexa that had been excited to start at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry seemed to die at her words.

“It’s worse?” she asked hesitantly, still gritting her teeth at the pain. Aden shifted closer and his hand grasped hers tighter.

“Much worse.”

* * *

A tentative friendship blossomed between Lexa and Yasmine as they began to see each other in a new light. Her shoulder injury was mended by an older nightblood named Terrence McClay who was studying to become a healer and just finished his third year. He was able to brew a potion in secret that numbed the pain and made her a soothing paste to place on it overnight. Lexa didn’t ask why he helped her, she assumed Yasmine had made some sort of deal with the Ravenclaw, but the next morning the bruises were almost gone and the pain was minimal.

“They say he wants to become a healer at St. Mungo’s when he gets out of Hogwarts,” Yasmine told her the next day.

“I think he would do a wonderful job,” Lexa replied, enjoying being able to move her shoulder without much pain. Yasmine kept her eyes down at her bowl of cereal as she continued.

“His parents were imprisoned for torturing children. One of them is a patient there still, I think,” she explained. Just like that, the small victory became tainted. She looked up to see Terrence’s face buried in a textbook about healing and felt her stomach churn at the thought.

“I don’t think I’m hungry anymore,” Aden said, pushing his bowl forward. Lexa and Yasmine both shot him a disappointed look as Miss Alie narrowed her eyes at them from the head table. There was to be punishment for his ungrateful words.

* * *

Despite her newly developed fears towards starting at Hogwarts, the summer seemed to drag on. Yasmine had become that much more important to Lexa and Aden as she began to tell them more about Hogwarts. Lexa had known some of the basics like the different houses and some of the classes they would be taking, but she didn’t know much about magic in general other than flying. Some nights when she slept, she dreamed of the weightless feeling of flying over her old backyard. Almost all of those nights still ended with her normal nightmares like seeing her father’s dead body or the screams of the man her mother tortured. Yasmine had her fair share of nightmares as well, but they never spoke about them come the light of day.

“Tell me more about Quidditch,” Lexa asked one day as her and Yasmine scrubbed the floors in the dining room together. Yasmine smiled at the thought as she raised an arm to wipe away the sweat gathering on her forehead.

“Each house has a team and each team has seven players. Three chasers, two beaters, a keeper, and a seeker,” Yasmine started and Lexa was enthralled with every word. For hours they talked about the sport, Yasmine telling her about the captain for the Slytherin team; Anya Mayer. She just finished her fifth year and was the best keeper they had seen in a long time. She told her about the former sixth year beater brothers, Quint and Ryder Masterson, and how they never finished a game without spilling blood on the other team. There was Indra Triku, the star chaser about to enter her fifth year, and how they seemed to go through so many other chasers because they could never keep up with her. And finally, she told her about the star of their Quidditch team, a now sixth year Gustus Starr. He had eyes like a fox and had never missed a snitch since he started playing.

“Do you think they’d let a nightblood onto the team?” Lexa asked as they finished their job and began putting their equipment away. Yasmine frowned and shrugged.

“You can’t try out until you’re in your second year and there hasn’t ever been a single nightblood that has made it past the tryouts. Most of us haven’t had much experience on a broom,” she answered honestly. Lexa nodded, used to this kind of disappointment. However, there was still some hope in her that she could change things around. Perhaps she could be the first nightblood to play.

‘Be brave, Lexa. Fight for what you want.’

* * *

Next to her fears for what Hogwarts had in store for her, Lexa was terrified of going shopping for school with Miss Alie. There were no other children her age so she was forced to endure her first trip to Diagon Alley with her caretaker alone.

“You have one hour to get your required materials for this year. I did the math and you each have just enough money to get what you need. If any of you come back without an item on your list or something that isn’t on your list, there will be severe punishment waiting for you when we return. Understood?” Miss Alie said to the five older students standing outside of the entrance from Leaky Cauldron before gesturing for them to leave. Yasmine gave a small nod towards Lexa as she hurried down the street towards the bookstore with the others. Miss Alie rounded on the remaining nightblood.

“We’re going to go through this only once because next year, you’ll be on your own too. We will be making a few stops today and we’ve only got an hour so don’t dawdle. First, you’ll need a wand,” Miss Alie snapped and she started walking down the cobble walkway without checking to make sure that Lexa was following. Lexa almost tripped over her own feet trying to catch up with her. She tried not to let the allure of all the shop windows distract her as she rushed to keep pace with the older woman. Finally after what felt like forever walking behind her, they stopped. Before them stood the almighty and well-known Ollivanders.

“You will go in, get your wand, and come back out right away. Now hurry,” Miss Alie ushered her in and the smell of wood filled her nose as she entered the small shop. Boxes upon boxes were stacked along the walls and in the middle sat a single desk. Behind it sat an elderly man, his smile wide and his eyes understanding.

“And who do I have the pleasure of meeting on this fine day, child?” he asked in a sweet voice, leaning forward to clearly see the young girl in front of him. Thick oval glasses sat on his crooked nose and his smile seemed to touch the corners of his tired eyes.

“Alexandria Woods,” Lexa told the man, noting the way his smile dropped slightly. He nodded as he rose from his seat and walked towards the left wall of the room.

“I knew from the minute both your parents came here that one day I would need a wand like this again. They both had the same. Made of ebony with a thestral tail hair. Your father had a very long wand, 15 inches if I remember correctly. And I always do. Your mother had a rather small wand in comparison, 9 and a quarter inches. You would need a nice medium I think, perhaps 13 and a half? Yes, I think that’ll be just right,” he muttered as he searched, but Lexa heard every word. She turned slightly to see the furious look on Miss Alie’s face before turning around again. She was curious sometimes about her parents, remembering those summer days flying with her father, but every thought made her head hurt and her chest ache.

“Sometime today, Ollivander,” Miss Alie snapped, but he ignored her to keep searching.

“What does all that mean?” she whispered, unsure whether or not he was even listening. He said nothing at first, finally finding the wand he had been searching for before turning back towards her.

“Wands like these specialize in both the Defense of as well as the Dark Arts. Not surprising considering what your parents went on to do,” he told her, gently removing the lid to the box and walking towards her. She noticed the slight gimp in his step and felt herself becoming rapidly sicker. “However, these are strong wands. They can do as much good as they can harm. I have seen many go on to become great Aurors with wands similar to these.”

“I don’t want to be like my parents,” she confessed, feeling safe with this strange man. It felt like despite never having met him before, she’d known him all her life. He smiled sadly at her as he handed her the wand.

“We don’t always have a choice in our destinies, child. This wand is thin, but very firm. Whatever you do end up doing, you will do it well,” he told her, his hand outstretched. Lexa felt herself hesitate before reaching out to grab the wand. ‘Be brave, Lexa. Be strong. Be powerful.’ Before her fingers even touched the thin wood of the wand, she could feel its power rushing through her. She felt like she had shoved her hand in an electrical outlet with the way it shocked her, but she grasped the slender wand anyway. Lightening sparks shot out of its tip and Lexa could feel the same excitement she had once felt riding a broom for the first time.

“It’s perfect,” she said, staring at the wand now clutched firmly in her hand. The old man, Mr. Ollivander, smiled as he handed her the box.

“Do not fret over things that won’t happen for a long time, Lexa. Enjoy it while you have it,” he told her before finally taking notice of the woman standing behind her. “Will you be taking care of the cost then, Allison?”

“It’s Alie. Just take the damn money,” Miss Alie snapped, rushing forward to drop a small bag of coins on the desk before grabbing Lexa’s hand and yanking her out of the store. With one last look behind her, they disappeared from the old shop.

“How did he know my nickname?” Lexa allowed herself to ask, noticing the way the anger seemed to fade. Then a cruel smile made its way onto her face.

“He may be a crazy old man, but he’s right about some things. I can’t wait to see how many people you kill with that wand before they lock you away with your mother.” Lexa felt her whole body stiffen at the words and the sick feeling from earlier crept up again before she threw up all over the cobblestone path. Miss Alie glared down at her, releasing her hand to let her double over. A few faces in the crowded street turned to face them, but she waved them off. “She’s just so excited to get her first wand!”

Lexa felt her whole body shake as she emptied the contents of her stomach. The thought of becoming just like her parents was always something she had considered, but never really believed. After she was sure she was done, Miss Alie pulled out her own wand and performed a spell to clean the street of her sick. She violently grabbed her arm again and pulled her to the next place.

“Come along now, you’ve embarrassed me enough for one day and expect punishment when we get home.”

* * *

Lexa and Yasmine were leaving with the others for Hogwarts in the morning and Aden had snuck into their room to say good-bye to them.

“I snuck some cookies out of the kitchen,” Aden admitted, dropping them onto Lexa’s bed. She smiled fondly down at the blonde haired boy, trying to ignore the shallow cut along his jawline, and ruffed his untamed hair.

“They’re all raisin. You know I don’t like raisin,” she teased, grabbing one of them from the pile. Yasmine scoffed as she grabbed one of her own.

“Fuck you, I’ll eat them all then,” she grunted, shoving the small treat in her mouth. Lexa chuckled as Aden curled in her lap.

“There are some chocolate chip in there too,” he defended, leaning over to try to find one. She rubbed his shoulder as she finished her cookie.

“It’s perfect, Aden. Thank you,” she said, knowing that when Miss Alie found out, he was going to be in a lot of trouble. It made her heart ache knowing she wouldn’t be here to protect the six year old.

“I’ll miss you. Maybe Yasmine too. Mostly you though,” he told her, fingering a hole in the thigh of her ripped jeans. Yasmine just grabbed another cookie to hide the smile that threatened to peak out over her busted lower lip. Lexa smiled down at him and pulled him into a one arm hug.

“I’m going to miss you too. We’ll put Titus to work with the letters we’ll send to each other though, don’t worry. I’ll even try to send some sweets,” she promised, knowing full well the Miss Alie would probably throw away anything she sent back. Still, he needed to hear something positive. She could probably hide a bunch of them in her trunk if she really tried.

“Tell me about everything. Even the bad stuff,” Aden said, refusing to meet either of their eyes. Yasmine just pushed a cookie towards him, exchanging worried glances with Lexa.

“You don’t want to know all the bad stuff, kid,” she told him honestly. Lexa could see the pain in her eyes and felt her fears flare at the knowledge.

“I do though. I want to know when you’re okay and when you’re not. And please, please tell me what house you get sorted in like right away!” he demanded, sitting up to face Lexa. She forced herself to smile, having revealed to both of them her desire to become a Hufflepuff like Miss Becca.

“That will be the first word on the first letter I send to you. Not even Dear Aden will come first. Promise,” she said as she leaned in to grab another cookie.

“If you have any problem reading, which hopefully Lexa will keep her verbose vocabulary to herself, just have one of the older kids read it for you,” Yasmine suggested, clapping him on his shoulder. Lexa knew she would miss this. If she was in a different house, she might not see Yasmine at all and who knows how many completed deliveries old Titus still had in him. For a minute, they enjoyed the small break in the chaos of their lives. It was like they were normal kids talking about a normal first day of school. Perhaps not siblings by blood, but by the taint of their heritage.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and company have arrived at Hogwarts. Let the sorting begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, you guys! I'm so glad your'e enjoying the story so far. I can't promise the updates will be be as often as I'd like them to be (I do have a full time job), but I'm thinking if I do update it'll probably be around Monday/Tuesday when I have my days off. I haven't seen the latest episode, but fuck canon anyway. I'm literally just in it now for the other nightblood names. I'm trying real hard to not have to include the others until I know some more names. I'd rather not have to include any more original characters unless I have to. (Are you guys are digging them at all?) The next chapter is going to be nicer to Lexa, I swear! Anyway, here's another chapter. Enjoy!

“Are you ready?” It was a simple question. Yasmine was waiting impatiently at the door to their shared room, tapping her tattered white sneaker against the hardwood floor. Lexa felt her mind racing as she took one last look around their room, taking note of every last thing. The hole in the wall that had been there since before she had moved in, the cracked table sitting between the two single beds, and everything in between.

“Does it get easier just leaving home every year?” Lexa asked, letting her fingers graze over the chipped wood on her bed frame. Yasmine felt her lip twitch at the word ‘home’ before walking over to the younger girl and gently grabbing her hand.

“Hogwarts might be tough at first, but you’ll learn that it’s probably the closest thing to what a real home feels like,” she explained, lacing her fingers through the smaller hand and dragging her towards the door. “They’re waiting for us.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Lexa didn’t bother to look back over her shoulder.

* * *

Deja-vu couldn’t begin to explain the feeling Lexa got as she returned to the familiar setting of the muggle train station. Miss Alie stood in almost the exactly same place that Miss Becca had stood a year before, waiting for the nightblood to enter the hidden platform.

“You’re aware of how this works, correct?” she demanded, gesturing to the brick wall. Lexa nodded, her grip tightening on the leather strap of her trunk.

“Miss Bec-” she started, but the other woman cut her off.

“I’m aware of your trip with my sister. Just get it over with so I can get home and enjoy the rest of the year without you miserable brats,” Miss Alie snapped as she crossed through the passage. Lexa wasted no time in following behind her. The cold tickle from the doorway felt bittersweet, knowing that she would never get to share this experience again with her former caretaker. As she reappeared on the other side of the wall, her breath was taken away. Before her towered the Hogwarts Express with its radiant red paint gleaming under the torchlight from the station and this time, she was going to be riding in it.

“Hurry up, Lexa!” Yasmine called from where she stood with the other nightbloods next to the train. Miss Alie gestured for her to follow before turning around and disappearing again through the wall. Despite never really being close with any of them, they still waited for her. ‘All we really have is each other’ rang in her ears as she approached the older students, heaving her trunk behind her. As she reached the side door, her trunk was whisked away from her by one of the older nightblood boys.

“Don’t worry about it,” Terrence reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he directed her between himself and Yasmine. The carpet was plush under her feet as they boarded the train and she almost stumbled forward, having grown accustomed to the uneven hardwood floor at the orphanage.

“We always sit together on the train rides,” Yasmine said over her shoulder as the seven of them squeezed into a medium sized compartment nearby. As they took their seats, Lexa noticed some of the other students walking by and giving them dirty looks.

“Do they know who we all are?” she asked, turning to face the other nightbloods. Terrence was already buried in another book, the cover revealing it to be _The History of Reversal Charms_. The other four boys sitting among them ignored her in favor of turning to their own schoolwork. Yasmine frowned at their behavior before turning back to her friend.

“They figure it out pretty quickly at the sorting ceremony. Our families are pretty infamous in the wizarding world. After that, it’s like a label branded into your forehead,” she explained, settling into her seat. Lexa tried to relax into her own, her shoulder lightly pressing into Yasmine’s in the tight space.

“What’s the ceremony like?” she asked hesitantly, trying to shift her thoughts to something else. A whistle broke through her train of thought as the compartment lurched forward. She watched in awe as the train station filled with people began to disappear in a blur and the world began flying by.

“It’s pretty much the same every year. Headmaster Jaha will make a speech, the students will get sorted, and then we eat dinner. Oh man, I’m so excited for all the food. You’re going to love meal times. Perhaps we can put some meat on your skinny bones,” Yasmine joked, poking Lexa in the side. They both knew she was quite small for her age and if she didn’t have her shirt on, her ribs would protrude slightly from the skin.

“I’m fine,” she squeaked, pushing the intruding hand away. Yasmine just chuckled as she pulled back.

“You can literally eat as much as you want, Lex. I think I gained like ten pounds by winter break. No more two meals a day. Hearty meals that leave your mouth watering even after you’ve eaten it,” she promised. Lexa forced herself to smile at the carefree words, but on the inside, she was a wreck. She feared at how the other students would react when she was revealed to be the daughter of former Death Eaters.

* * *

They sat in silence for a good portion of the ride, trying to keep silent so the older kids could study. Lexa had looked through her own hand-me-down textbooks back at the orphanage, but most of it didn’t make much sense to her. Yasmine had promised that once her classes had started that that would change.

“Excuse me?” A timid voice came from the doorway. Lexa looked up to see the most beautiful blue she’d ever seen in her short life. They reminded her of the first time her broom had brushed past the surface of clouds hanging low in the sky.

“What can we help you with?” Terrence asked, not bothering to look up from his book. His chestnut bangs hung low on his face, but he didn’t make any attempt to brush them out of his way. Lexa never took her eyes off the other girl. She looked to be around the same height as herself, though it was hard to tell while she was sitting down. The other girl’s blonde hair barely brushed passed her shoulders and framed the slight baby fat still in her face.

“The prefects asked me to go around and let everyone know they need to get their robes on soon. We are almost there,” she informed them, her voice cracking slightly at the end. She nervously pushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, letting her eyes roam over their group. Finally her eyes stopped to meet green. Lexa felt her heart beat wildly in her chest as she tried to form a coherent thought.

“We appreciate that, thank you. You should probably go now, though. It wouldn’t do well to have your peers see you talking to the nightbloods,” Terrence replied dryly, gently turning the worn page of his book without sparing her a look. Lexa could see the other girl visibly swallow at his words and watched dumbly as she turned to leave. Once she was gone, Lexa felt herself let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding.

“Whatever that was, stop it,” Yasmine snapped, once again poking her in the side. This time the poke was hard jab rather than friendly prod.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Lexa mumbled as she rolled her eyes, feigning disinterest. Yasmine scoffed as she gestured to where the blonde had been standing moments ago.

“That. Whatever that thing was between you two. Don’t even go barking up that tree,” she snapped, her lips set in a thin line. Lexa felt her face flush at her words, trying to forget what happened the last time she showed any interest in another person. Though she never got to see the mangled corpse of the girl from the park in her basement, she had been told about it after she had been dropped off at the orphanage.

“Why, because she’s a girl?” she demanded, trying to suppress her slowly bubbling rage. Most of it stemmed from Yasmine’s clear disapproval, but there was a part of her aching from the loss of never again seeing the shy smile that Costia had once sent her.

“No, because you’re a nightblood,” Terrence interjected, finally looking up. His voice was emotionless as he closed his book and stood. “Feelings are weakness, Lexa. You’ll only end up hurt.”

“It was barely a thing. She just had pretty eyes,” Lexa tried to defend, but Terrence gave her a skeptical look.

“You need to be ready for what’s about to happen to you. You’re going to put on your donated hand-me-down robes and at the sorting ceremony, everyone at the school is going to know who you are and where you came from. They’ll most likely know what your parents did and perhaps some of them will even know some of the people that they killed. And that is going to be with you for the next seven years because any time another person looks at you, they’ll see your parents. They’ll see their crimes. Even the professors. You will never be free from what they did,” Terrence explained as he began pulling off his faded navy hoodie. The other boys rose from their seats to do the same, but turned their backs to the conversation.

“How can they just let them get away with that? Isn’t there anything against bullying in the Hogwarts code or something?” Lexa asked, jumping angrily to her own feet. Yasmine rose as well, placing a comforting hand on her lower back.

“No one is going to change for us,” she muttered sadly before withdrawing her hand and turning to change as well. No one wanted to watch as Terrence glared down at the young nightblood, his once calm light blue eyes blazing darker with anger.

“Do you know what my mother did to the Headmaster’s son, Lexa? Every time that man sees me, he sees the face of the woman who tortured and killed his only son. The fact he even lets me study in his school is a miracle. We are our parents’ mistakes and we will live with them until our dying breaths.” Lexa physically pained by his words, the air rushing from her lungs. He gave her one last look before turning around, leaving her to deal with this new information by herself. She suppressed the urge to cry as she tugged off her large sweatshirt, trying to block out the image of the girl with bright blue eyes.

* * *

“I’m sorry.” After they were dressed in their hand-me-down robes (Lexa was the only one still wearing the neutral black of not being associated to a house), Lexa turned to look up at Terrence. He had hastily combed his bangs back as he straightened out his blue necktie. The rest of his messy brown hair sat in a small ponytail that barely reached to back of his neck. Yasmine was seated again, already changed into her own silver and green robes. They made the blonde of her hair seem brighter as it stood out against the black.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You’re still learning. After today, you’ll know better. I still shouldn’t have gone off on you like I did. I apologize,” he admitted, clapping her shoulder lightly. Yasmine hummed in approval as Lexa nodded back.

“Still, I didn’t intend to upset you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just do me a favor and stay away from that girl,” he told her. Lexa could hear the warning his voice carried and she nodded, trying to forget the nameless girl.

“I don’t even know her. It was a stupid little thing. It won’t happen again,” she swore and Terrence gave her a single nod as the train began slowing down. The world that was rushing passed them earlier began to clear as the low light of the moon covered the castle grounds.

“They’ll separate us once we stop and we won’t see you again until dinner. If you keep to yourself, you’ll be safer,” Terrence informed her as he exited their compartment, the other boys following behind him. A few gave her nods as they passed, but they said nothing. Lexa stood in their compartment looking after them trying not to drown in her oversized robes.

“Seriously Lex, don’t do anything,” Yasmine warned, walking up to her to help adjust her messy tie. Lexa let her and tried to bite back the venom from their earlier conversation that still lingered within her. She was still filled with blind rage, but the shame began to outweigh her anger.

“It was stupid, okay. It’s just that her eyes were my favorite color blue,” she explained, trying to dismiss the topic. Yasmine gripped her tie hard and tugged roughly at the other girl’s robes.

“Your favorite color is purple. Don’t lie to me,” she snapped. They lamely stood there for another minute as the train finally slowed to a complete stop.

“It’s my new favorite color. I’m allowed to change it,” Lexa mumbled as the older girl pulled away.

“You just changed it to that girl’s eye color. Because you like her,” Yasmine replied wearily, grabbing her things.

“No, her eyes just happen to be my favorite color,” Lexa refuted again, but Yasmine just shook her head.

“Whatever, I’m done fighting with you about this. Just don’t act on it.”

* * *

“FIRST YEARS OVER THIS WAY!” Lexa stepped off the train and almost lost her step, but Yasmine was fast enough to grab her arm to keep her steady.

“You need to go with the other first years. They really roll out all the razzle dazzle to make you guys feel special,” Yasmine said as she let go of Lexa’s arm.

“We don’t travel together?” Lexa asked hesitantly, eyeing the other children dressed all in black heading towards the lake.

“No, the older students take carriages up to the castle. We’ll be able to ride together next year though. Ontari was with me when we made our trip on the boats last year, so it wasn’t so bad. Just remember to keep to yourself and you’ll be fine,” Yasmine promised, brushing some dirt off her shoulder. She gave Lexa a once over one more time before gently shoving her in the direction of the other first years. “Be good!”

‘Be brave.’ Lexa tried not to stumble again as her feet carried her in the direction of the lake. There were many small boats anchored to the shore, floating lazily in the dark lake. The Black Lake, Yasmine had called it.  The other first years were excitedly clamoring into the small boats under the watchful eye of an older man. His pale eyes reflected in the early moonlight as she stood before him.

“Pick a boat, any boat. They’re all going the same way,” he said, gesturing for her to move along. Most of the boats were almost full by now and Lexa could make out the familiar blonde haired girl from earlier. She moved down three more boats before boarding.

“Hey, hurry up. I’m starving!” Lexa gently sat down facing a girl similar to herself in size. Her dark hair was pulled back into a lazy ponytail. Green met green, though much lighter than her own as they stared each other down.

“Chill, it’s still going to be ages before they let us eat anything,” the boy next to her offered, trying to ease her agitated state. They all sat in uncomfortable silence, trying their best to ignore each other. A minute later, another boy dropped down into the boat, causing it to jerk violently in protest.

“Hey buddy, ease up there!” The first boy said, but the new guy leaned in closer to Lexa, running dirty hand through his greasy hair.

“You come here often?” he asked, trying his best to be charming. Lexa refuse to make eye contact with him, angling her right shoulder to block him from getting any closer. She was on her own for five minutes and was already having a hard time with other people.

“Don’t.” Lexa warned in the same emotionless tone Terrence had used on her earlier. He brushed off her rejection with a shrug and turned to ignore her as well. The girl across from them howled with laughter at the scene as the boy next to her tried to hide his own shy smile.

“Real smooth there, Romeo,” she barked, trying to catch her breath in between laughs. The boy seated next to Lexa turned to face the laughing girl.

“I’m just trying to be a nice guy, no reason to act like a bitch,” he hissed in return, his greasy hair falling forward to cover part of his face. Lexa could make out the slight flush on his cheeks under the fallen hair. The boy across from them just scoffed at his comeback.

“The only bitch here is you, dude.”

“QUIET DOWN NOW! We’re moving out,” the gentleman from earlier shouted over their squabble. The boats jerked forward at his words, gliding over the dark water towards the illuminated castle. Lexa watched, memorized by the magic at work. Her years in the orphanage hadn’t shown her a lot of magic used for everyday things. The only magic she could consciously remember where the dark spells used by her parents and the spells used to harm her from Miss Alie’s wand. She let her eyes trail over the water, but it was too dark to really see anything.

“I’m Octavia,” the girl across from her said, jolting her out of her revere. A thin hand was outstretched between them and a smile adorned the other girl’s face. Lexa looked down at the hand, unsure of how to proceed. Half of her screamed it was impolite not to return the handshake while the other half of her wailed to trust no one. She sided with the latter with the feeble excuse to herself that she didn’t want the other girl to feel any of the scars across her palm.

“Lexa,” she replied with a curt nod. Octavia nodded and dropped her hand, but her smile never faded despite her rude answer.

“This guy over here is Nathan, but we just call him Miller,” she said, gesturing to the boy on her right. He gave her another shy smile, nodding slightly.

“Hopefully ‘they’ stop calling me that soon. My dad is Professor Miller and it’s going to get pretty awkward if she keeps calling me that,” he explained, earning an elbow to his side.

“You never told me your dad worked here?” Octavia asked bewildered as she turned to face him.

“Yeah, he teaches Transfiguration and he’s the head of Gryffindor. You and I have only known each other for like a couple of hours and you sound like I’ve been holding onto this deep dark secret from you for years,” he said with a chuckle. Octavia mocked hurt before leaning in towards the center of the boat, her hand clasped around the side of her mouth.

“Do you guys want to know my deep dark secret? My brother is a Gryffindor,” she whispered, though it was loud enough that Lexa could hear her perfectly clear without leaning in as well. She was trying to figure this other girl out, but she continued to confuse her with her unpredictable behavior.

“Yeah, I know. I met him on the train,” Miller smugly, earning another elbow to the side.

“Well she didn’t know,” Octavia defended, shooting Lexa a toothy grin. Lexa struggled with the feeling of ease that radiated from the two across from her and almost relaxed at the unfamiliar banter.

“Hey morons, can we just ride this stupid boat in peace?” the boy next to her snapped suddenly, his arms folded across his chest as he tried in vain to ignore the three other occupants in the boat. Lexa felt herself stiffen at his words, remembering his arrogant attempt at flirting earlier.

“Oh I’m sorry, little bitch. I didn’t mean to intrude on your alone time,” Octavia retorted, her face hardening as she turned to face him again. The sudden changes in the other girl were beginning to worry Lexa and she wondered if she would be feeling this way if she had just gotten in the same boat as the blonde girl.

“The name is Murphy. John Murphy,” he muttered as an introduction, but Octavia brushed him off.

“Alright shitdick, whatever.” Murphy growled in his seat, but said nothing more. Like herself, he was probably realizing that Octavia was not the kind of person he wanted to mess with. They sat in a much more comfortable silence this time as their boat continued the trek over the lake. Excited whispers surrounded them as they approached the entrance to a darkened tunnel at the base of the castle.

“Are we going through that?” Murphy asked nervously, unconsciously grabbing onto the wooden siding of the boat. Octavia’s smile turned into a smirk as she began to rock the boat.

“Oh no shitdick, can you swim? Hope you’re not afraid of the dark too,” she said brusquely with a twisted type of glee in her voice. Miller was the one to elbow her this time, noticing the tense way Lexa held onto the side of the boat as well.

“Chill, Octavia.” At his words, she stopped.

“Are you fucking insane?” Murphy cried out, catching the attention from some of the students on the other boats. Octavia flashed her toothy grin to them before leaning in towards the other boy.

“I will push you out of this boat if you don’t shut the fuck up,” she hissed. Murphy scouted farther back in his seat to get away from her.

“Sorry about that Lex, do you know how to swim?” she asked, the familiarity of the nickname causing the hair of Lexa’s neck to prickle.

“No, I never had a chance to learn.” She was almost surprised the other girl didn’t tip the boat just to teach her, but nodded knowingly instead.

“That’s cool. Bellamy said there are parts of the Black Lake that aren’t all that dangerous and I can totally teach you later. Shitdick too, if he wants,” she offered, gesturing to Murphy at the end. Murphy grunted in response and turned away. The words ‘all that dangerous’ sent red flags off in Lexa’s head as she tried to change the subject.

“Bellamy is your brother?” Lexa asked, unsure of the name. Octavia nodded excitedly as their boat fully entered the dark cavern. For a moment, their faces were hidden in the darkness. Murphy whimpered next to her, but she chose not to comment lest she set Octavia off again.

“He’s only two years older, but he’s super protective. Our dad left right after I was born so you know, the man of the house crap and all,” she explained nonchalantly. Her face was lit up a moment later as torches along the walls began to light up at their entrance and continued lighting up all the way down the tunnel. At the very end, Lexa could vaguely make out a large wooden door.

“It was really weird because he knows my boyfriend. That’s how we met on the train,” Miller explained, craning his neck back so he could see the long stretch of tunnel behind him.

“Bryan is so sweet. You guys are so lucky to have each other,” Octavia said with a faraway look in her eyes. Lexa studied her silently, unsure if another burst of anger was about to come bubbling out. Just in case, she tightened her grip on her seat.

“He is really great. Bryan is only a year older and he’s in Hufflepuff,” Miller added. At the mention of his house, Lexa’s ears perked up.

“I’m hoping to be in Hufflepuff too,” she admitted, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. It was kind of weird to admit such a thing to strangers, but they were pretty much offering her their own life story. Miller smiled at her words and despite the regret for spilling her secret, she smiled back in return.

“I hope you get chosen for them then. Bryan is a really great guy and he would totally help you get settled in if you want,” he offered.

“I kind of want to get into Gryffindor like my brother, but on the other hand, it would be really cool to be in a competing house,” Octavia said offhandedly, contributing to their conversation.

“Gryffindor is the only house I don’t want to be in, with my dad being the head of house and all,” Miller added with a laugh.

“What about you, sickdick?” Octavia asked, giving the boy in question a quick kick to the shin. Murphy hissed in pain as he jerked back again.

“Fuck you.”

“Contribute to the conversation or swim the rest of the way to the shore,” Octavia offered, her hands resting on the edge of the boat again. Both Murphy and Lexa panicked.

“Slytherin, probably,” he rushed out. Octavia released the boat and nodded.

“Good, thank you. You obviously would make a perfect Slytherin since your face looks like a snake, but like a snake after you hit it in the face with a shovel.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“So eloquent as always, shitdick.”

“You don’t know anything about me. Don’t patronize me,” Murphy growled. Before Octavia could reply (and Lexa knew she probably had a very witty response ready), their boat jerked slightly as it slid onto the shore.

“WE’RE HERE! Everyone please exit your boats and gather around the door. Professor Sinclair will be here shortly to collect you,” the man said, exiting his own boat with a young girl at his side. Lexa rose from her shared boat and her knees trembled slightly after sitting for so long. She paused as to not let her weight buckle under her unsteady legs watching as Octavia practically jumped from the boat with Miller following behind. Murphy hung back, not wanting to join the others. Without waiting to see if he would follow, Lexa got out of the boat to join the crowd.

There couldn’t have been more than twenty of them standing there in their black houseless robes. Lexa could see the bright blonde hair of the girl from the train and tried to keep her distance by standing on the opposite side of the group. She refused to look up at her, but she could feel herself being watched. The door before them opened slowly and out stepped a middle aged man dressed in long black robes. His hair was graying on top and his coal eyes roamed over them, seemingly analyzing each student.

“Welcome first years!” he called out. They watched him warily as the boat man approached the new arrival.

“This is Professor Sinclair, first years. He is the head of house for Ravenclaw,” he introduced. Sinclair nodded politely at his words.

“Thank you, Vincent. Mr. Vie is our groundskeeper and teaches Care of Magical Creatures. Most of you won’t be able to take that course until your third year, but he also oversees the grounds so you will most likely see him again,” Sinclair explained gesturing to the other man. Mr. Vie placed a hand on the shoulder of the girl who got off the same boat as him before taking his leave through the open door.

“Bye dad,” the girl called quietly after him. Some of the other students chuckled at her, but Sinclair raised a hand to silence them.

“Let us head to dinner.”

* * *

The castle was so much larger than Lexa had expected, even in her wildest dreams. She was used to the medium sized house of the orphanage and the small cottage her parents had owned before that, but this was something else entirely. They climbed the marble stairs that lead them into the main entrance way of the school and it literally took Lexa’s breath away. The high roof seemed to climb to the heavens and she felt incredibly alone in the universe as she got lost in the beautiful arches lining the walls. Sinclair cleared his throat (clearly she wasn’t the only one enthralled by the sight) as he led them towards a towering wooden door. They could hear the muffled commotion behind it and waited with baited breath as Sinclair gestured for their attention.

“Behind this door is the Great Hall where we eat all our meals. Each house has their own table and they eat together for each meal. For tonight and any major holiday, we discourage the houses from mingling, but during your day to day life, we encourage it. It is important to be united as a house, but more important to be united as a school,” Sinclair explained. Lexa listened to every word he said, but let her eyes wonder across the hall to see the large hourglasses besides the door, two on each side. The hourglasses were filled with colored sand and all the sand contained within them were even. They were colored one for each house.

“However, as of yet, none of you have been assigned a house. When we entered the Great Hall, you will follow me to the front of the room. We have a special tradition to decide your fates and introduce you more fully to the school,” Sinclair added as he turned around. With a slight wave of his hand, the doors before them to opened wide. “Now please, follow me.”

As if on cue, a hush fell over the Great Hall. It felt like a thousand eyes were staring at her as she shuffled into the hall behind the other students. If anyone knew who she was, they didn’t say anything. Without being flanked by the other nightbloods, she was just another student attending their first year at Hogwarts. Lexa’s eyes wandered over to the Slytherin table where she could see Yasmine smiling sadly at her. The other girl nodded slightly as they locked eyes. Lexa felt a bit better knowing her only friend was so close by that she almost missed the dark haired girl sitting a few seats down from her. Ontari.

“First years, please come gather around!” Sinclair called as they reached the front of the room. Lexa fought the urge to turn around to seek out her former bully and trained her eyes on the sight before her instead, but there was only a stool with a black box sitting behind it. Lexa looked passed the stool to see another table lining the back wall of the hall and a variety of older witches and wizards sat facing out at them.

“Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!” The man who was seated in the middle of the teachers table rose to his feet, addressing the first years before him. There was some light cheering and clapping behind them before the man raised his hand. Silence washed over the hall a second time and Lexa felt her stomach knot with anxiety.

“My name is Professor Jaha and I am Headmaster of this school. Before we can get dinner underway, we must begin with the house sorting. Professor Sinclair?” Jaha nodded to Sinclair who nodded in return. He walked up to the stool and removed the lid to the black box. With a single hand, he reached into the depth of the box and withdrew a battered old hat. Wordlessly, he moved to place the hat on top of the stool. At first, nothing happened. The hat simply sat limp and Lexa wondered if there was some kind of magic test she had to pass in order to get her house assigned. Would all Gryffindors charge at it? Would Hufflepuffs befriend it? Her questions were answered a few seconds later, as a mouth opened up in the middle of the worn hat and it grumbled to life.

 

Welcome young and old

We join together on this day

Another year filled with wonder

Where we come to learn and play

 

We write down our own stories

Taking note of all our past

To live, to learn, to love

Hoping that our legends will last

 

You could belong to Gryffindor

Adventurous in body and mind

Brave in the face of any danger

Always unsure of what you’ll find

 

Or perhaps you belong in Hufflepuff

Loyal to all of your friends

Passionate to be the best you can

And determined to the very end

 

You might belong in Ravenclaw

Where knowledge is all you crave

It is not about being the smartest

Learning all you can before your grave

 

But you could belong to Slytherin

A family you never knew you had

The clever and the ambitious

Your addition would make them glad

 

This journey is yours alone

Only you can see how it will play out

But amongst your friends and foes

Your destiny should never be in doubt

 

The hat sank back down into the stool after its song and seemed to be as lifeless as it was the moment Sinclair pulled it out of the box. Whatever Lexa had imagined to be the sorting ceremony, this was definitely not it.

“When I call your name, please come sit up on the stool,” Sinclair said after a moment of letting the hat’s words sink in. He grabbed the brim of the hat with his free hand, the other grasping a piece of paper, before raising it into the air above the wooden stool. “Octavia Blake!”

Octavia excitedly rushed up to the stool, turning to face the crowd and gave a thumbs up to what Lexa assumed was her brother over at the Gryffindor table. Sinclair gently placed the hat on Octavia’s head. The hat was too large to sit comfortably and sagged a bit covering her eyes. It sat for no more than five seconds before opening its felt mouth again.

“SLYTHERIN!” It proclaimed, echoing through the Great Hall. Cheers came out from the Slytherin table and Octavia’s bright smile fell. When the hat came back up over her eyes, she avoided looking at her brother’s table as she crossed the room to sit with her new house. Lexa felt for the other girl, knowing that despite her words from earlier, she really did want to be in the same house as her older brother. She paid little attention to the names and the faces that approached the stool after her.

“Harper Campbell!” “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Finn Collins!” “HUFFLEPUFF!”

“Carl Emerson!” “SLYTHERIN!”

“Montgomery Green!” “RAVENCLAW!”

Lexa listened to the cheers that came from the tables at the addition of each new student. She knew she would be one of the last called since they were going by alphabetical order and it made her more and more nervous.

“Clarke Griffin!” The blonde haired girl from the train stepped forward and Lexa felt her breath catch in her throat again. Clarke. She had to remind herself that it was okay to watch her since she was watching all the other students be sorted as well, but she could almost feel Terrence’s eyes boring into the back of her skull. She didn’t let that deter her from her examination of the other girl though. Clarke stepped up to the stool and Sinclair placed the hat over her blonde hair. It had barely touched her scalp before shouting, “GRYFFINDOR!” Clarke smiled and as the hat was removed from her head, she gave Lexa a brief glance before heading over to her new house. Again, Lexa tuned out most of the names being called.

“Jasper Jordan!” “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Nathan Miller!” “GRYFFINDOR!”

“Zoe Monroe!” GRYFFINDOR!”

“John Murphy!” “SLYTHERIN!”

“Raven Reyes!” “RAVENCLAW!”

“Maya Vie!” “HUFFLEPUFF!”

“Cage Wallace!” “SLYTHERIN!”

“Kyle Wick!” “RAVENCLAW!”

Lexa was the last remaining first year who still had yet to be sorted. She figured she would be towards the end, but had hoped she wouldn’t be the very last. Sinclair paused for a moment after looking at the last name on the list before turning to stare down at the young girl anxiously waiting. After a moment, he cleared his throat and read the final name.

“Alexandria Woods!” The silent hall broke out into hushed whispers as she walked towards the stool, keeping her spine straight and her eyes focused. Still, she could her their words behind her back.

“Woods? Is she related to-”

“-couldn’t have been her that was their-”

“-just another fucking nightblood!” Lexa felt like her cheeks would make her a good match for the Gryffindor banner as she turned to slide onto the stool. The wood was warm against her back, but as the hat was lower onto her head, she was filled with cold dread.

‘Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff!’ she mentally begged as she closed her eyes, feeling the brim of the hat slip down to her nose.

‘Hufflepuff?’ the familiar voice of the hat mumbled in her ears. She jolted at the sound, but continued her mantra.

‘Rebecca was a wonderful student and perfect for Hufflepuff because of her natural caring nature. That is why she was chosen for that house. I don’t assign people to the house they want, I give it to them because of where they belong. You’re very smart and brave, despite all your reservations. But without a doubt, I can say that you belong to-’

“SLYTHERIN!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any guesses as to who Terrence's mother is?
> 
> Also yes, I realize that the sorting hat song is terrible. I'm a better writer than a poet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of classes begin and Lexa is trying to find balance now that her secret is out in the open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm beside myself with all the kind comments I've received for this story so far. I was waiting until I revealed what house everyone was being sorted into to say this, but I'd like to post this as a disclaimer. Everyone was sorted into what house suits them best pertaining to this story given each person's background and character. Like I'm always on the fence with certain characters like Lexa (Slytherin/Ravenclaw/Durmstrang), Clarke (Gryffindor/Slytherin), Octavia (Slytherin/Hufflepuff), etc. Raven is really the only one that without a doubt I can always say I feel is a Ravenclaw. I just wanted to put that out there. Everyone has their own opinion about what house suits these characters the best. Wanna talk about it? Come find me on tumblr. Meanwhile, let's get back on topic. Here's the next chapter. Thank you all for reading and your kind words!

Slytherin.

The quill in her hand trembled as she stared down at that one word. In just 24 hours, her whole life felt like it had gone to shit. Not that it had been going in a positive direction prior to that, but still. The whispers that followed her as she took her seat in the Great Hall next to Yasmine. The eyes that stalked her through the winding halls of the school. The silence that threatened to consume her as her own house ignored her presence in their dormitory.

Her stomach growled in protest as she sat awkwardly in her new four poster bed. It was by far the most comfortable thing she had ever sat on, let alone had the chance to sleep in, but there was no relief in her mind. Yasmine had been right about the breathtaking feast before them at the table, but she only ate a few bites. The older Slytherin had said nothing, but slipped a few rolls in her pockets as they left. The rolls were currently sitting in a waste bin by her bed. She just couldn’t bring herself to eat.

One of the Slytherin prefects, Tristan, had brought them down to the dungeons and showed them to their rooms after dinner.

“One of the smallest years to come in,” he had mumbled to himself as he led the five of them to their rooms. One for first year boys and one for first year girls. Which is where she found herself now. Octavia had chosen the bed opposite her and rolled up in a ball. She hadn’t moved from that spot since they arrived and appeared to be asleep. Lexa had pretended not hear the occasional quiet sob.

She hadn’t bothered to change into her pajamas and had instead pulled out a piece of parchment, her promise to the lonely boy in the orphanage hanging over her head.

Not Hufflepuff. Slytherin.

* * *

“Wake up.” The words weren’t kind or comforting. Lexa jolted awake, dropping the parchment that was loosely grasped in her hand.

“W-what?” she grumbled, blinking the last remnants of sleep out of her eyes. The bright early morning light poured through the arched window, silhouetting the form of the person who woke her.

“You need to wake up. Breakfast starts in twenty minutes and you’ll need to be there to get your schedule.” Yasmine leaned forward, blocking the path of sunlight with her head. Lexa felt herself relax at the familiar face.

“Oh…” Lexa nodded, wincing at the twinge of pain in her neck. She reached up to rub at the sore spot, looking down to see her parchment on the floor.

“Did you write to Aden?” Yasmine asked, picking up the paper. She frowned as she read the single word on the page. “I don’t suppose this is all you planned on sending?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” she mumbled, grabbing the paper and shoving it under her pillow. Across the room, Octavia stirred at their conversation.

“Morning?” she asked as she buried her face farther into the pillow.

“Breakfast is in twenty minutes. Probably closer to fifteen now. You guys get dressed and I’ll walk with you down to the Great Hall,” Yasmine said before heading for the door. She gave Lexa one last sympathetic look before closing the door behind her.

“Is she your sister?” Octavia asked, stifling a yawn as she sat up in bed. Both of them were still wearing their wrinkled robes from the previous night.

“No.”

“You can tell me, you know. We’re friends, right?” Octavia asked, rising out of bed. Lexa followed her lead as they began undressing with their backs to each other. It was unnerving to not be receiving any kind of negative reaction from the other girl after what happened the night before.

“Do you really want to be friends with a nightblood?” Lexa finally asked, unable to keep the question to herself any longer. She was glad to not be able to see the reaction on the other girl’s face.

“No, I want to be friends with Lexa. Or would you prefer me to call you Alexandria?” Octavia asked over her shoulder.

“Lexa is fine.” They dressed in relative silence, but every second felt like an eternity as Lexa tried to formulate her thoughts. “You really don’t care?”

“I’m going to be pretty honest here and tell you that I don’t actually know what a nightblood is,” Octavia admitted as she finished pulling on a clean pair of plain black robes.

“My parents were former Death Eaters. They did… some pretty bad things,” Lexa explained, turning to face her in her own set of matching robes. It was obvious that they were much too big for her, her pant legs dragging across the floor and her shirt hanging loose over her waist despite being tucked in.

“Did you help them?” Lexa grimaced at her words, shaking her head frantically.

“No, I didn’t. I swear didn’t even know about it until after they were caught,” she assured. Octavia rushed up to her, her skirt swaying roughly behind her. Lexa flinched, but Octavia scooped her into a comforting hug.

“Then why should I worry? Unless you’re going to be evil and talk about what you saw me do last night,” she breathed into her ear and it was much as a threat as it was a consolation, but Lexa allowed herself to relax none the less.

“No?” Lexa answered. Octavia let out a chuckle as she pulled back and nodded with a reassuring smile.

“Cool, let’s go meet up with that girl. I’m starving.”

* * *

After brief introductions, the three girls ventured down to the Great Hall. The tables were once again filled to the brim with delectable foods and Lexa couldn’t stop her mouth from watering this time. Her stomach growled in anticipation as she dropped down into an empty seat and began piling her plate with everything within arm’s reach.

“Did you eat those rolls I gave you last night?” Yasmine asked as she took a seat across from her. Her voice was laced with concern, but her eyes were narrowed at the younger girl.

“No, I wasn’t really that hungry,” Lexa lied, refusing to meet the other girl’s deep brown eyes. She had been hungry, but she had also been sick with dread. Octavia climbed into the seat next to Lexa and started packing her plate with just as much food.

“Bullshit.” Lexa ignored Yasmine in favor of digging into her full plate. She practically moaned at the taste, having never had the chance to eat so much well prepared food in her life and she planned on taking advantage of it. Octavia followed her lead and began shoving her face.

“To be fair, Lexa and me both had our hopes and dreams dashed last night,” Octavia said bluntly around the forkful of eggs that she was shoving into her mouth. Yasmine turned to give her a skeptical look.

“Oh?” she asked, gesturing for her to continue. Octavia swallowed before reaching forward to grab a large piece of buttered toast off the table.

“I kinda wanted to be in the same house as my brother and Lexa was really hoping to be Hufflepuff,” she explained, as she dipped her knife into a jar of jam before spreading it across her toast. Yasmine raised her eyebrow at her words and turned back to face Lexa.

“You told her?” she asked in disbelief and Lexa nodded, face flushing.

“I did. She’s pretty cool,” she admitted. Octavia clapped her lightly on the back before taking a large bite out of her toast.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, mouth full.

“So the whole stick to yourself and don’t get into trouble thing? Was I just wasting my breath?” Yasmine scoffed, ignoring the food before her in favor of grilling Lexa farther. Lexa tried to shrink down into her seat, slowing her pace of eating.

“I get the whole overprotective sister vibe you got going on here, but Lexa is more than capable of making her own decisions. Besides, I don’t care about the whole darkblood thing,” Octavia explained. The weight that bore down on her shoulders lifted slightly and Lexa felt herself exhale at the words, releasing some of her tension with it.

“Nightblood,” Yasmine corrected. Octavia shrugged at the annoyed expression on the older girl’s face.

“Whatever.” They resumed eating, though Lexa could see the calculating looks that Yasmine kept giving Octavia. The hall began filling up quickly, but the other Slytherins kept their distance from them.

“Alexandria Woods and Octavia Blake.” The two girls looked up to see a middle aged man approaching their seats. He stopped behind Yasmine, his slicked back dark hair tainted white around the edges. There was a small tuff of hair along his jawline, but his bread was well trimmed. He gave them a stern look, but the corner of his lips curved into a small smile.

“This is Professor Kane, our head of house and the Potions’ master,” Yasmine introduced. He nodded down at her as he presented both girls with a piece of parchment.

“If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to come to me. These are your schedules for the week. The first year class is one of the smallest that we’ve had in many years, so all of your classes will be with the entirety of all four houses,” he explained. Lexa looked down at her course list and felt a brief flutter of excitement.

“So when do we get those fancy green Slytherin robes that everyone else has?” Octavia asked, eyes skimming over her own schedule. Kane said nothing as he reached into his robe pocket and pulled out his wand. With a small swish, the once black robes sprouted the Slytherin crest and the linings turned a dark emerald green.

“Anything else I can do for you, Miss Blake?” Kane asked, tucking his wand away again. Octavia shook her head, her mouth hanging open slightly as she inspected the change to her robes. “Good. I expect to see the two of you for your afternoon class then in the dungeons. Don’t be tardy, I’d hate to have to take points away from my own house.”

“Yes, professor,” they said in unison as he turned to move farther down the table where Cage Wallace and Carl Emerson were sitting.

“That was so awesome,” Octavia whispered, pulling on her robes to get a better view of the emblem with a completely memorized look on her face.

“You act like you’ve never seen magic before.” Lexa shot Yasmine a dark scowl as Octavia shrugged.

“Well, I mean, my mom is a witch, but the only magic I’ve really seen her use is levitating a firewhiskey bottle into her hand,” she explained. The silence they sat in was uncomfortable as the weight of the statement hung in the air.

“I’m sorry,” Yasmine said and for the first time in their conversation, she actually sounded sincere. Octavia just brushed off the awkward moment to turn back to her half eaten plate of food.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m hoping to learn the same spell so I can make her work for it next time,” Octavia said with a smile and Lexa felt herself smiling in return. Despite all the crap the other girl had to experienced, she seemed able to cope with it with a smile. Lexa’s heart still ached for the other girl, knowing full well the hardships that life had to offer.

“Octavia!” The three of them looked up to see a boy not much older than them approach the table, his bright red Gryffindor robes sticking out amongst the table of green.

“Bellamy!” Octavia leapt up from her seat to embrace him. They looked so similar from the curve of their noses to the light freckles dusting their cheeks. While Octavia’s dark hair was tamed and pulled back into a ponytail, Bellamy’s hair was curly and knotted as it framed his face. He pulled her close in his large arms and Lexa could see the other girl grow slack in his embrace.

“Has it only been a day? You look so grown up now,” he joked as he pulled back, taking in her new robes.

“I’m sorry,” she said, adverting her gaze. Lexa felt like an outsider on their conversation and turned back to the table.

“It’s not your fault. The hat chooses what it thinks is best,” Bellamy breathed, trying to comfort his sister. She looked so small in his arms, drowning in the black as red met green.

“Where’s Ontari?” Lexa asked, trying to block out the siblings behind her. She didn’t want to intrude anymore on their reunion. Yasmine peeled her eyes away from them as well to turn back to Lexa.

“I guess you saw her last night then,” she stated, lowering her voice as to keep other people from listening in. Most people were avoiding them anyway, but that didn’t mean they weren’t listening.

“I did. Did you talk to her?” Lexa inquired, leaning closer to the table as she lowered voice to a hush as well.

“We sleep in the same room, of course I did,” Yasmine snapped with a brief flash of anger. Lexa flinched.

“Sorry,” she rushed, turning her eyes down to the table. Yasmine softened immediately.

“No, I shouldn’t have snapped. This is just stressing me out,” she apologized.

“So what did she say?” Lexa tried again. Yasmine didn’t say anything at first, just hummed in response. She looked down to both ends of the table, checking to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Lexa did the same, noticing that the girl they were talking about was absent from the table.

“Let’s talk about it after dinner when we’re alone, okay? I’d like to get through my first day of classes without having to think about it,” she mumbled after a few minutes.

“Don’t you have class with her?”

“Thanks Lex, you sure do have a way with words,” Yasmine snapped again, flinching at her own words. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t mean to push you, I was just wondering. I mean, she was just adopted out of the blue and then we-” Lexa started, but Yasmine cleared her throat to cut her off.

“Look, let’s just talk about it tonight. You should make sure you write a proper letter to Aden today though. The poor kid is probably going crazy without you,” Yasmine reminded her.

“Wow, thanks Yasmine,” Lexa mumbled, pushing her plate away. Her hunger was mostly sated anyway. Small portions and few meals at the orphanage made it easier for her to fill up than most. With a sigh, she rested her forehead against the polished wooden table.

“You’re welcome. Consider that my own form of payback.”

“So guys, this is my older brother Bellamy,” Octavia cut it, pulling Bellamy up towards the table. Lexa raised her head and turned to face them. She noticed the dried tear stains on the corners of the other girl’s eyes, but said nothing as she held out her hand for the elder Blake to shake.

“My name is Lexa,” she introduced, but Bellamy didn’t return her handshake.

“You’re a nightblood. You both are,” he stated with a hint of malice in his voice, looking between them. Yasmine pushed her plate forward as well and leaned on the table with her arms crossed.

“You’re very observant, Blake,” she snapped in return. Bellamy’s eyes narrowed at the other girl, silently challenging her to continue as Octavia pulled on his arm.

“They’re my friends, Bell,” she warned. He scoffed and shook his head.

“Make new friends then. You don’t want to associate with this filth,” he snapped as he pulled his arm out of her hands and moved back. “I’ll see you around.”

“Bellamy, really? Bell!” Octavia snapped as he returned back to his own table. Lexa stared down at her lap, trying to force her face to stay emotionless. Bellamy’s words burned at the corners of Lexa’s eyes as she sniffed, trying not to cry.

“That is what I was trying to warn you about,” Yasmine sighed, her voice hoarse as she tried to control her own labored breathing. Lexa didn’t bother to acknowledge her as she trembled slightly. She could feel the eyes of some of the surrounding students on them, having heard Bellamy’s outburst.

“Guys, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think he would-” Octavia started, dropping back down next to Lexa, but Yasmine cut her off.

“Almost everyone here is like that, Octavia. I appreciate your kindness, as I’m sure Lexa does as well, but it’s not going to do yourself any good if you keep hanging out with us,” Yasmine said, reaching forward to grab Lexa’s hand. Lexa recoiled at the touch, tucking her hands down in her lap. She refused to look up at the apologetic look on Octavia’s face and the knowing look from Yasmine. ‘No one is going to change for us.’

“I don’t care. If anything, that just means you guys need a real friend. Bellamy can say whatever he wants, but that’s not me. You guys are pretty awesome, I don’t care about your blackblood status,” she promised, moving forward on her seat.

“Nightblood,” Lexa choked out, trying to keep her tears at bay. Octavia smiled lightly as she grabbed one of the hands sitting in her lap. Her hands were soft against Lexa’s own, but her grip was strong and sure. Lexa was sure she could feel the faded scars on her palms, but the other girl said nothing about them.

“Whatever.”

* * *

Breakfast was finished in mostly silence, but Octavia never let go of Lexa’s hand. Yasmine noticed, but didn’t point it out. Lexa had a feeling she would hear about it later though. They exited the Great Hall together and stood outside the doors, bags slung over their shoulders.

“Our first class is Herbology with Professor Green,” Lexa said, reading off her schedule. Octavia looked down at her own.

“Why does Green should familiar?” she asked, turning to Lexa. She shrugged in response, trying to place where she had heard the name before.

“It’s that Asian kid’s mom, I think,” a voice from behind them said. They turned around to see Murphy awkwardly standing there, his own schedule clenched in his hand.

“Oh shitdick, I was just thinking about dirt and weeds. Poof, you appear! It’s almost like magic,” Octavia snapped, though her words seemed to lack any real bite. Murphy narrowed his eyes at her.

“What do you want, Murphy?” Lexa asked, trying to deflect the oncoming fight. Murphy nervously shifted from one foot to the other, unable to meet her gaze.

“Well Cage and Carl were even bigger assholes than Octavia so I figured I’d just stick with you guys for now,” he mumbled under his breath, eyes drawn to his scuffed up black dress shoes. Lexa almost didn’t hear him, but his words struck a chord with her.

“If you wanted to see a big asshole, you should just look in the mirror,” Octavia told him. Yasmine tried to keep the smile off her face, but couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of her lips. Lexa frowned as she looked up to see Carl and Cage exiting the hall behind them. They glared at the group as they walked passed, heads held high and chins jutted out at them.

“You guys should hurry out the greenhouses. None of the professors take kindly to tardiness, especially on the first day. It’s a straight shot outside, so you shouldn’t get lost,” Yasmine interrupted. Murphy and Octavia nodded, but Yasmine grabbed Lexa’s arm before she could get away. “Lexa, can I talk to you a second?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there,” she said over her shoulder as Yasmine pulled her away. “What’s up?”

“Professor Green is one of the worst when it comes to dealing with the nightbloods. She will take points off for just looking at her the wrong way. Just be careful, please. Don’t get into any trouble,” she warned. She spared a look over Lexa’s shoulder at the other two Slytherins. Lexa could hear Octavia making another crack at Murphy without turning to face them.

“You think they’re trouble?” she asked, but it was more of a statement. Yasmine gave her a slow nod.

“I think Octavia has a big mouth and that might be just as bad. I don’t really know the other kid. Just… don’t take Professor Green lightly, okay?”

“Alright, thanks. I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Probably not, I’ve got double Charms after Potions so I’ll be eating late today,” Yasmine explained, bringing up her own schedule to show Lexa.

“Oh, okay. Dinner then?”

“You got it.” Yasmine promised before taking off towards the moving staircase. Lexa returned back to her two friends.

“Hey guys, thanks for waiting,” she said as she rejoined them.

“Do you think the lake is close to the greenhouses? I think Murphy is ready to learn how to swim, yeah?” Octavia asked, gesturing towards the front door.

“As much as I’d love being drowned on my first day of classes, we should go,” Murphy snapped as more students began pouring out of the Great Hall. They began moving along with the pack headed outside.

“Seriously though, why are you hanging out with us? Do you not have any other friends?” Lexa asked, trying to keep her face neutral. She figured she knew the answer before she asked, but she needed to hear him say it. She figured Octavia wouldn’t let up on him if he didn’t come clean with his intentions anyway.

“Yeah, I don’t even like you,” Octavia added. Murphy bit his lip anxiously as he shook his head.

“Not really.”

“You know I’m a nightblood, right?” Lexa asked again, gesturing to herself. Murphy just shrugged.

“Yeah well, my dad was arrested for robbing a Potions shop when I was younger because I was sick. I might not be the child of a Death Eater, but I am the child of a criminal and that’s pretty bad too,” he admitted.

“Mmm that explains a lot,” Octavia said, taking a moment to look him over. Her voice was condescending, but Lexa could sense there was some sympathy laced in her words. Hanging around the other girl was making it easier to understand her double meanings. When it came to terrible home lives, the three of them had it rough.

“Excuse me? Are you looking for a fight?” Murphy demanded, clutching his fists out in front of him. He hadn’t spent as much time around the other girl and only associated her with picking on him.

“Alright, how about you guys duke it out after class?” Lexa suggested, cutting off their fight as they reached the front doors leading out to the grounds.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Octavia promised as she readjusted the bag on her shoulder and they set off toward the greenhouses.

* * *

They had arrived late by boat the night before and barely got a glimpse of the expanse of ground surrounding the castle. The Forbidden Woods sat off to one side of the lawn, the Black Lake on the other. In between were slopes of green and at the very bottom of a hill, Lexa could make out a house sitting on the edge of the forest.

“This place is huge,” she breathed, never seeing so much open space before. The orphanage was on the edge of a downtown area and they didn’t even have a backyard. Vaguely, Lexa could remember the open fields behind her parents’ cottage, but the memory was tainted and Lexa tried not to think too much about it.

“We should go exploring the grounds this weekend,” Octavia offered as they approached the greenhouses tucked close to the side of the castle.

“Can I come?” Murphy asked. Octavia opened her mouth to respond, but Lexa nudged her in the side.

“Maybe,” she told him. Octavia frowned, but Lexa gave her a sad look, silently pleading with her eyes.

“Yeah, you can come,” Octavia mumbled. Murphy tried not to smile as he nodded at Lexa. The ‘thank you’ was unspoken, but Lexa knew.

“Hurry up now, first years!” A voice boomed from the greenhouse. A few other students were lagging behind with them and they all rushed in. Summer was almost over, but a muggy heat surrounded them as soon as they entered. Lexa pulled slightly on her collar as sweat began trickling down her neck.

All fifteen first years were crammed into the small room. Lexa, Murphy, and Octavia gravitated to stand over by Carl and Cage, but the two boys completely ignored them. Across the room, Lexa locked eyes with Clarke. The blue of her eyes stood out from the red of her robes and Lexa forced herself to turn away.

“What’s up with that?” Octavia asked, her eyes darting between the two of them. Lexa just shook her head in response as the woman in the front of the room cleared her throat.

“Welcome first years to your first lesson of the school year. My name is Professor Green and I will be in charge of navigating you through Herbology. I am also the head of the Hufflepuff house. Please pull out your textbooks and open to page 11,” Professor Green demanded. Lexa reached into her bag, her finger catching on the hole in the corner of the fabric as she pulled out her tattered copy of _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi._

“You get hand me downs too?” Octavia asked, pulling out her own equally as worn book.

“I think I might have Yasmine’s old copy who had Benjamin’s old copy who had Terrence’s old copy,” Lexa whispered as she flipped open to the assigned page.

“Three previous owners and it looks just as bad as Bellamy’s old book,” Octavia joked as she opened her own book. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?” Lexa asked, leaning over. The book went from page 10 right to page 13.

“Dammnit, Bell,” Octavia whispered as she trailed a finger along the tear along the crease of the middle of the book.

“Is there a problem over here?” Lexa and Octavia looked up to see Professor Green had approached them and stood towering over them.

“Um, my brother was the previous owner of my book and it seems like he ripped out page 11,” Octavia said, gesturing down to her book as the blood rushed to her face. She kept her eyes trained on the ruined book to hide her embarrassment at being caught.

“I suppose you’ll have to share for this lesson than,” she said, gesturing to Murphy. “Please share with Mr. Murphy then.”

“She could share with me,” Lexa offered, noticing the disgusted look on Octavia’s face at having to share with Murphy. Professor Green turned to face her, her dark eyes bearing down on her.

“Miss Woods, is it? That will be five points from Slytherin for talking back to a teacher. And another five points for Miss Blake’s lack of preparedness for class. Mr. Murphy, please move closer so Miss Blake can look at your book.” Lexa’s heart dropped as the class snickered at her predicament. Professor Green moved back to the front of the room as Murphy moved closer.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to Octavia. She just shook her head and looked over at his book.

* * *

Class continued about the same for the whole class period. Lexa realized that Montgomery Green was in fact Professor Green’s son. He answered almost every question correctly and had accumulated about 20 points for Ravenclaw by the end of the class. Maya Vie, the groundskeeper’s daughter, gave him a run for his money and had also been rewarded about 15 points. Between Lexa, Octavia, and Murphy, they had lost Slytherin another 20 points.

“Good job at securing us last place this year,” Cage mumbled as he and Carl pushed passed them at the end of class. He bumped into Lexa’s bad shoulder and she hissed slightly in pain.

“Are you alright?” Murphy asked. Lexa nodded as she moved her bag to her other arm.

“I messed up my shoulder last year. It just kind of aches sometimes,” Lexa admitted, rubbing at the tender flesh. They started back up towards the school with the rest of their class.

“So I’ll be the first to say that was a shitshow,” Octavia said, gesturing behind them to the greenhouse. Lexa and Murphy nodded.

“She just really doesn’t like us,” he agreed. Lexa sighed.

“It’s my fault. Yasmine tried to warn me that she has it out for nightbloods. I guess… I had hoped she was exaggerating, but she was right. You guys are going to struggle if we remain friends,” Lexa said, her eyes trained down to her feet as they walked back up to the front doors.

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I don’t care if you’re a twilightblood or not. That shouldn’t matter,” Octavia said.

“Nightblood,” Lexa and Murphy corrected at the same time, sharing a brief smile.

“Not to make it sound like a last resort, but I don’t have friends at all. So, that kind of makes you one of my best,” Murphy admitted. Octavia punched him in the shoulder.

“You’re right, telling her that she’s your friend because you don’t have any other ones couldn’t possibly be offense,” Octavia snapped. Murphy gritted his teeth as Lexa let out a loud laugh. Octavia and Murphy both stopped and turned to look at her, never once hearing the other girl laugh.

“Did we break her?” Murphy asked as Lexa rushed to cover her mouth with her hands.

“You have a really nice laugh,” Octavia told her, reaching to pull one of her hands away from her mouth. Lexa couldn’t hide the smile on her face though.

“Have I mentioned you guys are really amazing?” Lexa asked as they reached the steps leading back into the castle.

“Not often enough, but I’ll take it,” Octavia joked. Murphy ducked it head out of sight, hiding his blush.

* * *

The moving staircase tripped them up and accidently dropped them off at the wrong floor, forcing the three of them to sprint to their second class. They just barely made it into the classroom on time before the door snapped shut behind them.

“Hurry up and take your seats!” A voice commanded from the front of the room. Octavia and Lexa rushed to sit down at a desk nearby. However, there were only two chairs to a table, so Murphy ended up sitting by himself at the table in front of theirs. Before the Professor could began their class, a violent knocking could be heard at the door.

“Guys, open the door!” A voice called out as the pounding continued. The Professor moved from the front of the room towards the door. He yanked the handle back to reveal the red face of the Gryffindor boy named Jasper. He was out of breath and looked up into the stormy eyes of their Professor.

“It appears you’re late, Mr. Jordan,” he barked, staring down at the young boy. Jasper quivered under his gaze and nodded.

“Y-Yes, Professor,” he stuttered. The Professor moved to gesture to the spot next to Murphy before returning to the front of the room.

“That’ll be 10 points from Gryffindor for your tardiness. Let that be a lesson to all of you about arriving on time for class. I don’t care if it’s your first day of class or your fiftieth,” he said, turning to face the class. He crossed his thick arms behind his back and puffed out his chest.

“My name is Professor Pike and I’m here to train you in the ways of Defense Against the Dark Arts. I don’t stand for tardiness, late assignments, or forgotten textbooks. You need to practice these good habits now to prepare yourself for the next seventh years. You may not need this course later depending on what career you decide to pursue, but it still a good routine to have,” he explained as he walked down the rows of desks. His eyes seemed to stop on Lexa’s frame for a few extra seconds before moving to the next desk. He finished his speech as he returned to the front of the room and stared out at them.

“Does anyone know what the most useful spell is to defend oneself?” The class remained silent as Pike searched out among them. No one raised their hand or spoke up. Lexa double-checked to make sure no one else was going to answer before raising her hand slightly. Pike noticed it and nodded to her. “Miss Woods?”

“The E-Expelliarmus Spell?” Her answer was more of a question as she stuttered out the words, but Pike nodded approvingly. She had vaguely remembered Yasmine mentioning it to her as she flipped through her textbooks that summer.

“Correct, Miss Woods. Five points for Slytherin. That was the easiest question of the year, folks. I expect you all to step up or you’re in for a long and painful year,” Pike said, giving the class a hard look before continuing. “A witch or wizard will have a practically hard time cursing you if they don’t have their wand. As Miss Woods said, the phrase is Expelliarmus. Words at not all it takes though. Please open your textbooks to the first chapter!”

* * *

Professor Pike was stern, but fair. He rewarded house points as much as he took them away. Finn Collins had forgotten his textbook, so it was fair to have taken points away from Hufflepuff. Zoe Monroe dozed off in the middle of one of Pike’s lectures, so Gryffindor lost some points as well. However between the other students, many points were rewards as well. Harper Campbell had perfected the wand motion needed for the Expelliarmus spell quickly and earned some points back that Monroe had lost them. Lexa had even answered another question correctly, hoping to make up for some of the points she had lost that morning.

“We’re still trailing in house points right now,” Murphy said after class, showing them a piece of paper listing the house points that were being earned and lost.

“The older years are also contributing, so maybe we aren’t,” Octavia supplied as they headed back down to the Great Hall for lunch.

“Miss Woods?” Lexa froze at the voice of Professor Pike calling out from back inside the classroom.

“I’ll catch up with you guys at lunch,” she promised as she turned back around and returned to the room. Pike was standing near the door, his arms folded over his chest.

“Yes, Professor?” she asked, unable to meet his eyes. She looked down at her shoes instead.

“I won’t treat you differently because of your blood status,” he promised, leaning down to meet her eyes. She looked up slightly to see the hard look on his face. “But I need you to be more confident in class. The other students will catch on if you’re nervous or shy.”

“Yes, sir, I’ll try.”

“I’ve had the displeasure of pulling a few nightbloods out of fights they didn’t start. If you feel like you’re in trouble, come to me. If another student tries to jinx you, use the spell we are practicing right now to defend yourself. I can’t keep you out of the trouble you’ll get in if you fight back,” he explained. Lexa looked up to face him completely, noticing the way his face softened slightly.

“I don’t know what to say,” Lexa admitted, not prepared in any way for the conversation she was having with her teacher. It left her with an unpleasant taste in her mouth, but a fluttery feeling in her stomach. Is this what being accepted felt like?

“Let’s keep this between us, please. Don’t expect me to go easy on you during class, but know that you do have someone you can trust. Some of the other Professors aren’t as understanding about your people.” Lexa’s blood ran cold at his words. ‘Her people.’ The other nightbloods. She knew he was trying to reach out to her so she knew she wasn’t alone, but his careless words stung almost as much as Professor Green constantly attacking Lexa for every little thing she did earlier that day.

“Thank you, Professor. I will try my best,” she promised, her voice becoming devoid of emotion as she began to shut down. Pike seemed to realize his folly, but merely nodded and gestured her towards the door.

“Hurry along then, I’m sure you’re famished.” Lexa nodded politely and turned to leave, rushing from the room as if it had been lit on fire. Her mind was racing and she could feel herself breathing heavy as she tried to outrun his words. ‘Your people.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, Charlotte is in fact Terrence's mother. It made sense since she was the one to kill Wells on the show. It will be mentioned later on in the story again.
> 
> There will be some Clexa interaction the next chapter, promise!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa attends her last class of the day, finally getting a chance to talk to Clarke before things blow up in her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for no update last week. I was fighting with a migraine for five days and even though I had everything written, I wanted to make sure I edited it well before posting. As promised, there will be some Clexa this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy and thank you to everyone for your continued support. Every comment and kudo means the world to me!

“You’re not eating?” Lexa was startled from her thoughts, looking up to see Octavia and Murphy staring at her from across the table. She looked down at the barely touched food on her plate before pushing it away.

“I’m not really hungry.” It was a lie, but Lexa really didn’t feel like talking about the exchange with Pike. It was much easier to just avoid the topic and try to quell the sick feeling in her stomach.

“You’re not hungry, or you’re upset?” Octavia asked without missing a beat, taking a bite out of her sandwich. As she chewed, she shot her a knowing smirk.

“I saw you guys shoving your faces this morning, she could still be full,” Murphy interjected, trying to defend her.

“Shut it, Murphy,” Octavia snapped. Lexa sent him a small nod of approval before turning her attention back on Octavia.

“I’m fine guys, thanks,” Lexa said, once again trying to detour the conversation, but Octavia was determined.

“So are you going to tell us what Pike said?” It became clear that Octavia wasn’t going to let her leave the table without talking about it and decided to just accept her fate instead. It might even make her feel better, though she doubted it. With sigh of defeat, Lexa finally relented.

“It’s really stupid for me to feel like this,” she started, pulling her plate back towards her to give her something to do with her hands. “He told me he’d be there if I needed a teacher who wouldn’t treat me differently because of who I am,” she continued, pushing a carrot around on her plate with her fork. It was rare for them to have fresh vegetables at the orphanage and carrots were her favorite. The distraction gave her an excuse to not look up at her two friends.

“Why would that make you sad?” Murphy asked unsure, not understanding her distress.

“That’s not the part that upset me. He referred to the nightbloods as ‘your people’. As if we were some kind of… I don’t know. It’s just reaffirming how alienated I’ve been feeling since I got here,” she finished without looking up. She took her fork sliced down the side of her carrot instead. It became almost soothing as she kept slicing the small vegetable until the pieces began to turn to mush under the metal utensil. Once the carrot was completely crushed, Lexa spooned it into her waiting mouth.

“I guess that makes us part of ‘your people’ then. Cause we’re friends and we stick together,” Octavia offered nonchalantly, regarding the other girl carefully. After a moment, she spooned her own carrots onto Lexa’s plate. Lexa looked up to see her giving her a small smile, a hint of understanding shining in her eyes.

“Yeah, you can be like our captain or something,” Murphy agreed, passing off his own carrots as well. Lexa could tell he really didn’t understand what or why he was doing it, but she appreciated the gesture. She stared down at the small collection of carrots on her plate before continuing her earlier menstruations of slicing them up until they turned to mush.

“Naw, she’s definitely like a commander, leading her people into battle,” Octavia corrected as she resumed her consumption of her sandwich.

“Octavia, I’m tiny. I’m not leading any one to battle,” Lexa denied, gesturing down towards herself with her free hand. She was finding it harder and harder to contain the relief from their conversation. She threw herself into her carrot crushing with renewed vigor, hoping to keep any tears at bay.

“Whatever you say, Commander.” Murphy cleared his throat as he pulled his schedule out of his bag.

“Anyway, we’ve got Potions this afternoon with Kane. How do you think that’s going to go?” he asked. Octavia looked over thoughtfully as she chewed her food.

“Well Kane wasn’t being a jerk this morning, so if he’s got a problem with Lexa then he’s probably not going to do anything about it. Bellamy always told me that Potions was one of his hardest courses though,” she said, rubbing her hands together to brush any last crumbs off her fingers before reaching forward to grab another ham sandwich.

“Bellamy is the guy who was here this morning?” Murphy asked, looking across the room towards the Gryffindor table. The mopey headed teen was absent from the sea of red, but Lexa could make out Clarke and Miller laughing over their lunch.

“Yeah, that’s my brother. We literally look almost identical, why would you even ask?” Octavia asked, elbowing the boy in the side. Murphy grunted and scooted farther away from her on the bench.

“Well I was going to say that he’s cute, but he’s related to you so that automatically ruins it,” he mumbled. Octavia immediately began coughing on her food and reluctantly Murphy turned to pat her on the back in an attempt to clear her airway. Octavia grabbed her pumpkin juice and gulped in down, subsiding her coughing fit. After regaining her breath, she turned to face the boy.

“Eww, did you just say my brother is cute? Ugh, that’s so gross! It’s even worse after I just said we look alike. Please tell me you don’t have any feelings for me too?” Octavia asked, blanching at her own words as Murphy’s face contorted with a look of pain.

“Absolutely not! I’d rather let you drown me in the lake!” he exclaimed. Lexa tried not to laugh at their squabble, finding their interaction funnier than she probably should. The elder Blake didn’t seem to approve of her and she didn’t really want to add him farther into their group by dating Murphy.

“How about we just stop talking about it?” Lexa offered, munching away happily at the mass pile of carrots on her plate. Octavia gave Murphy one last incredulous look before turning back towards the table.

“Alright, so let’s totally talk about you and that girl this morning in Herbology. What was her name, Clarie?” she asked, changing the subject. Lexa’s face burned at her words.

“Clarke,” she corrected, shoving her mouth full of more mushed up carrots.

“Yeah, her. Did you guys have some steamy hook-up on the train or something?” Octavia asked, leaning forward and lowering her voice. Lexa was taken aback and almost choked on her food at the thought.

“What? No! I’m like eleven,” she exclaimed, face reddening more at the thought. It was obvious that she liked the blonde, no matter what she had said, but thinking about doing anything other than dating her made her feel ashamed. Even the thought of dating her made her feel guilty as she remembered her promise to Terrence.

“So what? I’m pretty sure Miller and his boyfriend are doing the do,” Octavia offered in an attempt to make Lexa open up farther on the subject.

“That’s an unpleasant mental image,” she grumbled out. She could barely think about herself having sex let alone someone else doing it. Not that she would admit it to either of her friends, but she barely had an understanding of how it worked. Sex education classes weren’t something the orphanage was providing and if Hogwarts taught it, she hadn’t been informed about it yet.

“Do you have something wrong with gay guys?” Murphy snapped, not bothering to hide the edge of his voice. Obviously being attracted to men was something he felt insecure about and Lexa could relate with her own attraction towards the same gender.

“Of course not. I just don’t want to think about anyone having sex,” Lexa explained as her ears burned red. Her voice was almost pleading to end the conversation and Murphy visibly calmed before nodding.

“Okay, well if you’re not having sex with her, then why the longing looks?” Octavia continued her interrogation. Lexa was getting really frustrated with the other girl’s persistence, but it was probably easier to just answer her than avoid it forever.

“Alright, do you see that guy over there at the Ravenclaw table sitting by himself?” Lexa asked, gesturing towards the table in question. Towards the front of the hall, Terrence sat by himself with his face buried in another book.

“Yeah, what about him?” Octavia asked, eyes trailing over him as Murphy leaned back to look around her.

“That’s Terrence. He’s one of the oldest kids at the orphanage where I’m from. Anyway, Clarke came to tell us that we were almost to the school while we were on the train and I got caught looking at her a little too long. Terrence told me to stay away from her and pretty much everyone else at the school,” she explained sadly, remembering the furious look he gave her when he lashed out.

“Is this where you’ve been getting the negative mentally about nightbloods from?” Murphy asked, turning back to the table. Lexa was starting to feel uncomfortable with the questions and Octavia finally seemed to pick up on her distress.

“We’ve seen it firsthand for ourselves. People are assholes. But that girl wasn’t looking at you like you were dangerous or anything,” Octavia supplied, gesturing towards where the blonde was sitting. Lexa allowed herself to look up, hoping to catch her eye again.

“Really?” The girl seemed deep in conversation with Miller and didn’t return her gaze.

“Would I lie?” Octavia asked causing Murphy to snort in response.

“I have a feeling you’d find a way to lie after being forced to drink some Veritaserum,” he offered. Lexa wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but it seemed to infuriate Octavia. She narrowed her eyes at him as she jabbed him in the chest with her index finger.

“Murphy, I want to take you up to the tallest tower of this castle and kick you off,” she snapped. He slapped her hand away, gritting his teeth.

“And I’d love nothing more than to hang you upside on the moving staircase, but here we are,” he returned. Their heated look last another moment before Lexa cleared her throat, catching their attention.

“While I appreciate a good fight, can you guys not for like five minutes?”

* * *

They returned back to normal conversation for the rest of lunch. Lexa learned that Murphy’s mother was extremely homophobic and also appreciated the fine taste of firewhiskey. Octavia softened slightly at his words and they didn’t bicker for the rest of the meal. The dungeons weren’t far away, but they left lunch early to stop back in the common room and drop off their morning textbooks.

“As much as I love lugging around all the knowledge of the wizarding world, I enjoy being able to shrug my shoulders more,” Octavia joked after Lexa suggested the idea. The detour took more time then they planned since Cage and Carl hid Murphy’s cauldron. It wasn’t a very clever attempt since they found it hanging outside of the window moments later, but getting it inside took longer than they would have liked and they found themselves sprinting towards the classroom afterwards.

“Should we tell Kane what they did?” Murphy huffed as they neared the door. Octavia scoffed, but it sounded more like a rough bark as she tried to take in more air.

“What proof do we have now that we got your cauldron back? You better hope we’re not late for class for this because I will personally corner them after class and beat their-”

“Blake, Murphy, Woods! You’ve got one minute to get in here before you’re late,” Kane called from the doorway. His words sent an extra wave of energy through them as they powered through towards the door. Kane shook his head as he closed the door behind them. Lexa felt her heart pounding in her ears as she took deep gulps of air. A few seconds later, loud banging could be heard from the other side of the door.

“Guys, guys let me in quick!” It was almost funny that Jasper was once again pounding on the door after the three of them had once again just barely made it to class on time. Kane sighed and moved to open the door once more. The trio moved out of the way to stand next to the rest of the first years, mingling in the back of the room. Kane must have informed the class prior to their arrival to not take their seats yet.

“Mr. Jordan, why are you late to class today?” he demanded, opening the door to reveal the red race of the Gryffindor boy.

“I-I, I d-don’t…” he stuttered as Kane glared down at him.

“That will be 10 points from Gryffindor seeing as this is the second class you were late for today. Professor Pike already informed me of your tardiness and I will not stand for it,” he snapped gesturing for him to move with the rest of the class. Jasper nodded dumbly as he rushed to stand with everyone else.

“Well we’ve already wasted enough valuable time for our class preparation. My name is Professor Kane. Today were going to be introducing ourselves with the potion that you’ll be brewing this Friday during your double period and I’ll be assigning your permanent Potions’ partner for the rest of the year. Since you were late for class, Mr. Jordan, you’ll be partnered with myself,” Lexa could hear the other boy groan quietly at his words. Being stuck with the teacher for the rest of the year sounded awful.

“I’m sure you’ve all become familiar with those in your own house, so I propose some variety. When I called your name, please move to sit with your new partner.” Lexa paled at his words, looking across the rest of the class and taking note of the other looks of displeasure.

“Octavia Blake and Nathan Miller!” Octavia smiled as she moved to grab a seat by the window with Miller hot on her heels. She shot Lexa and Murphy a look with a thumbs up before taking her seat.

“How fucking lucky,” Murphy mumbled to Lexa, narrowing his eyes at the two friends. Lexa had a feeling she wouldn’t be as lucky.

“Finn Collins and Raven Reyes!” The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw moved to take their own seats.

“Maya Vie and Cage Wallace!” The Groundskeeper’s daughter seemed visibly frightened as she moved to join Cage at the desk he chose in the back of the room. Lexa didn’t blame her, her impression of Cage so far didn’t leave her feeling confident.

“Zoe Monroe and Kyle Wick!” The two lagged for a moment before meeting at a table and sitting down.

As the list of names grew shorter, Lexa grew more paranoid. It was safe to say that she wouldn’t be partnered with Murphy or Carl, which left her with three opinions. Montgomery Green, the son of the professor who seemed to hate her and who could possibly carry some of her hatred as well. Harper Campbell who hadn’t really said or done anything to stand apart from the rest of her classmates. Or Clarke Griffin.

“Carl Emerson and Montgomery Green!” Two. There were two choices left. Lexa felt her heart begin to race at the possibility of partnering with Clarke. If Terrence and Yasmine knew, they’d be furious and Lexa felt her face burn with shame.

“Clarke Griffin and Alexandria Woods!” It was too late to worry about that now. Lexa felt herself move forward on autopilot as she crossed the room to stand with the blonde, her facing growing redder. Clarke gave her a tentative smile in return as they took their seats.

“Harper Campbell and John Murphy!” Lexa didn’t even turn to see Murphy swagger up to the other Gryffindor girl.

“I’ll give you five minutes to introduce yourself to your partner and then please turn to page 6 in the textbook,” Kane ordered as Murphy and Harper took their seat in front of Lexa and Clarke. Murphy flashed Lexa a smirk before leaning forward to introduce himself.

“Hey babe, you into chilling in dungeons?” Lexa internally groaned as she stiffly turned to face the blonde. They sat in silence for a minute, just staring at each other.

“So… hi,” Lexa said, clearing her throat. Clarke seemed to jostle out of her revere and thrust her hand forward.

“Hey, I’m sorry. That was so rude of me. We haven’t officially met yet. I’m Clarke, Clarke Griffin. I mean, I guess you already know that, but hey.” Lexa eagerly reached out to grasp her hand, remembering too late about her scar ridden palm. It was too late to pull back as Clarke’s soft hand grasped her own and she forced herself not to squeeze too tightly.

“I’m Lexa,” she replied. After what was probably too long in regards to handshaking time, they pulled apart.

“So I guess we’re partners for the year. This should be pretty exciting, yeah? I don’t know about you, but I haven’t had a chance to be around a lot of magic. My dad is a wizard, but my mom is a muggle and she tolerates it better when she can’t see it, you know?” The words were just pouring out of Clarke’s mouth and Lexa had to force herself not to lean forward to capture those plump lips with her own. Damn hormones.

“I got to fly once,” she said dumbly, mentally cringing as the words tumbled out of her mouth. Clarke perked up at her admission.

“That sounds so cool! My dad took me to a Quidditch game once, but mom wouldn’t let me get a broom myself. Dad said if I’m interested in playing for the school’s team, we’d sneak around her though. I don’t like lying to her or anything, just I really want a chance to fly.” Lexa found herself nodding along to what the other girl was saying, barely keeping track of the words. Flying. Quidditch. Parents.

“Attention, we will be starting our lesson now,” Kane called out, snapping them out of their conversation. Lexa faced forward to see Murphy sporting a swollen cheek and tried not to snort at his misfortune since they were friends and that would be rude, no matter how much he deserved it.

Wordlessly, she reached into her bag and pulled out her copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_. The letters were faded and the spine of the book was split. Lexa prayed Clarke wasn’t paying attention. As soon as she flipped open her book, the seam fell apart and the cover popped off and landed on the table with a thud. The pages slid off the spine and spread askew across the table. A few heads turned to look back at her and Lexa ducked her head slightly. The humiliation of having her textbook fall apart made her heart race and tears rushed to the surface.

“Do you want to share with me?” Clarke asked, sliding her own new copy of the book over. Lexa nodded slightly, rubbing at her eyes with her sleeve before sliding her chair closer.

“T-thank you,” Lexa stammered, unable to look Clarke straight in the face. She wanted the floor to swallow her up and toss her back out at the orphanage, but she saw Clarke just smile at her again out of the corner of her eye. It almost made the situation worse. Kane cleared his throat as he began his lecture.

“We will be starting off simple this year so you can get a knack for how I like to run my class. On page 6, you can see we will be starting off with the Antidote for Common Poisons. Now who can tell me some of the most common forms of poisons?”

* * *

Potions seemed to stump most of the class with the exception of Raven Reyes. The Ravenclaw girl seemed to have memorized the whole first chapter and got every single question correct, earning her house a whopping 45 points. The entire class, Lexa tried to pay attention, but she found it was harder than she first imagined. The class was challenging in the fact every move you made could influence your potion and Lexa was terrified she might ruin it when it came time to actually make it. She also found it hard to concentrate when all she could smell was the vanilla of what she believed to be Clarke’s shampoo and strawberries.

“I appreciate you letting me look off your book,” Lexa said when Kane finally dismissed them. He was the first out of the room, leaving the class to follow behind. Lexa shuffled all the loose papers of her books quickly into her bag with sweaty hands, trying to once again hide her crimson cheeks.

“It’s no problem, really. Perhaps you can ask Kane to help reassemble your book. It looks like its seen better days. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Worn books just mean they were loved extra hard.” Lexa doubted that, but smiled and nodded anyway.

“Still, it means a lot. Thank you.” Clarke shoved her own textbook back into her bag as Harper turned around in her seat to face the two girls. She gave Lexa a calculating look before turning to face her housemate.

“Clarke, come on. We don’t want to be late for dinner,” she said, rising from her seat. Clarke followed her lead, rising from her chair and politely pushing it back under the table

“I’ll see you around, Lexa,” she called to Lexa who gave her a dopey smile in return. The two blondes began heading towards the back of the room.

“I thought getting stuck with John was bad, but you have to deal with that nightblood,” Harper said in a hushed tone, but it was still audible from where Lexa was seated.

“She’s not bad. She’s actually really sweet,” Clarke defended as she readjusted the strap of her bag.

“I wouldn’t trust her though. Did you know that one of the people they found in the basement was a girl her age? She probably didn’t like the girl and had her parents off the poor thing.” Lexa felt her whole body freeze at the words. Her hands trembled as they hoovered over her bag and she took a shaky breath. The words were fading as the two Gryffindors left the room, but Harper’s words were pounding Lexa’s head.

“Lexa? Come on, let’s go,” Murphy said hurriedly, grabbing her arm and yanking her out of her chair. She let him tug her over towards where Octavia and Miller were waiting. Murphy looked over at her with sympathy, obviously having heard every word as well.

“Why do you guys look like you drank a common poison? You know, cause the lesson?” Octavia asked with a grin, causing Miller to chuckle in response. But when neither Lexa nor Murphy showed any sign of smiling, she became serious. “What happened?”

“That bitch Harper thinks Lexa had her parents kill a girl,” Murphy muttered, shooting a dirty look to the door to the classroom. Lexa still felt herself quivering and didn’t even register the tears that were falling down her face. The rest of the students quickly filed out of the room, leaving the four of them alone.

“Lex, come on Lexa. Don’t cry, its okay,” Octavia cooed, pulling the trembling girl into her arms. She felt faint as she almost collapsed into the embrace.

“Hey, I’ll go talk to Harper. That’s totally not cool what she said,” Miller said, gingerly tapping Lexa on the shoulder. He sounded both sincere, but almost unsure. Almost as if he didn’t completely believe what Harper said wasn’t true.

“D-don’t,” she sputtered as she choked through her tears. The thought that maybe the others truly believed she had done such a thing made her dizzy as she panted for air.

“I can’t believe I wasted one of my best pickup lines on her,” Murphy spat as he hoped up onto a vacant desk close by. Lexa could feel his comforting presence, but it didn’t lessen the dread that settled in her stomach.

“I should go join the rest of my house, but you should know that I don’t think of you like that,” Miller promised her. Lexa nodded into Octavia’s shoulder, but said nothing.

“You should go, we’ve got this,” Octavia told him, pulling Lexa closer as her sobs turned to wails. Miller nodded before turning to leave.

“So this is shaping up to be a great year,” Murphy mumbled, reaching out to awkwardly rub Lexa’s back. Octavia nodded against Lexa’s head, running a soothing hand down her hair.

“I need you to do me a favor,” Octavia said, turning to face him. He nodded, noting the seriousness of her voice.

“Anything. Well, not anything, but you know.”

“Go to the dining hall and get Yasmine. Tell her that Lexa needs her and to meet us in the common room. Everyone is probably at dinner by now and that’ll give us some privacy,” she explained. Murphy nodded as he jumped off the desk.

“The blonde from this morning, right?” he asked, double checking that he was going after the right girl.

“Yeah, tell her that Lexa’s okay, but it’s really important.” Murphy nodded as he picked his bag up and headed towards the door.

“You got it, I’ll meet you guys there,” he called over his shoulder, leaving the two girls alone. Lexa continued sobbing into Octavia’s shoulder, barely registering the conversation her friends were having.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s alright, it’s just you and me,” Octavia promised, rubbing her hand across Lexa’s back. She’d never really be one for human contact, but she felt like Octavia was not only holding her up, but also holding her together.

“I-I’m so s-sorry!” she sobbed, tears staining the collar of the other girl’s shirt. The moist fabric against her neck probably felt awful, but Octavia didn’t seem fazed.

“Nothing to be sorry for, shit happens. I hope you know that when you’re feeling better, I’m going to kick the shit out of that Harper girl for even daring to say that you had anything to do with your parents’ shit,” Octavia promised, lightly nuzzling her cheek against the other girl’s hair.

“S-she was only h-half wrong,” Lexa choked out before launching into another hysterical fit of sobs.

“What do you mean? Shhh, calm down,” Octavia asked, her hand moving to rub along her back. Lexa tried to take in some deep breaths to calm herself down and pulled back from the other girl’s neck.

“That girl they found… m-my parents did that because I l-liked her,” Lexa explained with a hiccup. The carefree smile that Costia gave her in the park was burned into her mind.

“Oh shit, that’s rough. I can’t even begin to know how that feels, but you can’t let that stupid bitch get to you, Lex. She doesn’t know anything about you. I know we’ve literally got like 24 hours under this friendship belt, but I’ve got your back. I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Octavia said, grabbing Lexa’s shoulders and staring into her eyes. “I trust you.”

“I don’t really know what to say, Octavia. Thank you,” Lexa said, her breathing still slightly erratic as her tears began to lessen.

“Now come on, your not sister is probably going to beat us back to the common room if we don’t hurry.”

* * *

Octavia was unfortunately correct and as they walked into the common room, Yasmine was pacing in front of the fire. Murphy had a handful of rolls in his lap and he was nibbling on the end of one.

“Finally, I was so worried,” Yasmine said with a sigh, walking up to them and taking stock of the smaller girl. Lexa’s face was still wet with some tears and she was pretty sure there was a damp mark on the front of her shirt, but she had controlled her breathing and was feeling slightly better.

“I’m alright now, I think,” Lexa said, trying to reassure the older girl. Yasmine nodded as she turned to look between Octavia and Lexa.

“So what in Merlin’s name happened?” she asked. Octavia frowned as she looked to Lexa to explain.

“I got partnered with Clarke in Potions,” Lexa began, but Yasmine cut her off before she could elaborate.

“That bitch, I knew she was bad news the minute she walked into our compartment on the train. She looked like one of the good for nothing nightblood haters. I can’t believe-” Yasmine started, but Lexa immediately jumped to the defense.

“Stop! It wasn’t her!” she said. Yasmine stopped her rant.

“Then who was it?” she demanded. Lexa swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing.

“Clarke and I were partnered in Potions and she lent me her book because my copy fell apart,” she explained, noting twitch of Yasmine’s left eye. It was a nervous tick she had when she felt guilty. “And she was really nice about the whole thing. She left with another girl in her house, Harper who said… she said…” Lexa trailed off, unable to finish her story.

“She told Clarke that Lexa had her parents kill a girl,” Murphy finished, having heard the words first hand himself. Yasmine didn’t react right away, instead shifting her glance between all three of them to see if they added anything else. Then without warning, she turned around and flipped over the end table next to the couch.

“What… what the absolute fuck!” she yelled, kicking the offending piece of furniture away from her.

“Yasmine, wait. Please, don’t!” Lexa pleaded, rushing forward to grab the older girl’s arm. Yasmine was seething as she yanked her arm out of Lexa’s grasp.

“I’m going to have a talk with the older boys and have them beat the living shit out of that girl,” she raged.

“Now that’s a plan I can get behind,” Octavia said as she cracked her knuckles.

“Please just don’t. You were right, I need to stay out of trouble. This whole day was proof of that. Please don’t make it worse,” Lexa pleaded again. Yasmine seemed to consider her desperate state for a minute before letting out a deep breath. With a sigh, she nodded and leaned down to pick up the discarded end table.

“Alright, fine. But before we do anything else, I need to say something to you two,” she snapped, her statement directed towards were Octavia stood and Murphy sat on the couch. She righted the table before standing at her full height and fixing them with a glare.

“You see this? You see upset Lexa?” she asked, pointing towards where Lexa stood awkwardly. “I will beat the living fuck out of you if either of you make her upset like this again. If the going gets tough, get going. But if you hurt her like this, I will make sure you never get the chance again,” she swore.

“You are literally threatening the wrong person,” Octavia snapped, hunching in a defense position with her hands curled into fists. Murphy said nothing, leaning farther onto the side of the couch to get away from both girls.

“And why is that?” Yasmine asked, sneering at the other girl. Lexa was afraid for a moment that Octavia was going to pounce on the other girl, but she seemed to pause for a minute before relaxing her stance.

“Lexa is my friend, I don’t know how many times I can say it,” she finally said in a tired tone.

“Why? You’ve literally known each other 2 days. Why stick by her when the next 7 years here could be hell for you just by knowing here,” Yasmine pushed, trying to rile the other girl up again. Lexa shot forward and punched her in the arm.

“Yasmine, stop!” she demanded. Yasmine flinched, but kept her eyes trained on Octavia.

“Because neither one of us wanted this. We didn’t want to be in Slytherin. I just wanted to be with my brother! We both need each other right now,” Octavia explained as she faced Lexa who simply smiled at her kind words.

“The other nightbloods can take care of her. We don’t need you,” Yasmine spat back.

“Yasmine, stop it right now!” Lexa yelled, finally reaching her breaking point. “I appreciate you trying to protect me and keep me safe, but fighting with my friends is really stupid.”

“There is only us and them at this school,” Yasmine said, turning her anger towards her fellow nightblood. Lexa clenched in fists as she returned the glare being sent towards her as Octavia cleared her throat.

“You know what? I’m done with this conversation. Come on Murphy, let’s head down to dinner. You look like you’re about to eat that green throw pillow anyway,” Octavia said, gesturing towards the couch. Murphy nodded wordlessly and moved passed Yasmine to follow Octavia as they left. After a moment, Lexa walked in front of Yasmine with a glare.

“Have you considered that it doesn’t have to be that way? That perhaps people can look past our blood status,” Lexa asked, but Yasmine didn’t budge.

“People won’t change for us,” Yasmine said simply.

“I didn’t beg for their acceptance, it just happened. It’s possible,” Lexa promised. Yasmine merely scoffed.

“I get the optimism and even if I believe that maybe there are people out there who don’t care, that doesn’t change the 99 percent of the school who doesn’t feel that way.”

“Maybe they’re like that because they don’t know.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Yasmine asked, getting on the defense again. Lexa sighed, realizing she was closing herself off to the possibilities of Lexa being right.

“The nightbloods keep to themselves. You all eat together, you keep yourselves separate from the rest of the school because you’re scared,” she explained.

“You’re right, I am scared. Scared of being jinxed in my sleep. Scared of being cursed in the hallway. Scared of being denied every chance I’m given,” Yasmine admitted, her voice raising with every word.

“You feed the stereotype that we’re bad people because none of you are showing them that we’re different from who they think we are. You all hide and distance yourselves away. You fight back when you need to. You don’t give anyone a chance,” Lexa snapped, her own voice rising.

“We aren’t worth the chance!” Yasmine finally shouted.

“Maybe we are!” Lexa shouted back. They were lucky everyone was down eating dinner because she was almost positive they could be heard from outside the common room.

“You know what, fine. You do whatever you want, I’m done with this. I have enough problems right now,” Yasmine snapped, turning her back to Lexa and heading towards the stairs towards their dormitories.

“Like what? Ontari?” Lexa asked, moving forward to follow her. Yasmine stopped at the bottom of the stairs to turn and face her.

“The woman who adopted her is looking at the other nightbloods to adopt,” she stated simply, her voice weary from their fight.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. This is what I wanted to talk about earlier. Ontari asked me if I wanted to be adopted too.” Lexa was taken aback and paused to consider the possibility before immediately thinking the worst.

“Oh good, so we can get moved to another home with another caretaker who doesn’t give a damn about us.” Lexa felt her blood boil at the thought of all the nightbloods being adopted into another abusive home. She wouldn’t let that happen to them, especially Aden. She had promised to keep him safe the best that she could.

“She said it isn’t like that. Said that the woman actually cares,” Yasmine offered, thoughtfully regarding each word. The actual consideration of the request only farther enraged Lexa.

“Weren’t you the one who literally just said that no one cares?” Lexa asked defiantly.

“Fuck you, Lexa. I’m so tired of your bullshit. I tried to help you, I did, but you just keep fighting it. You want to learn the hard way? Today was just the beginning of it. You think those two will have your back a month from now? A year? Good fucking luck,” Yasmine snarled as she turned away again and marched up the stairs.

“Wait, Yasmine. Come on,” Lexa pleaded, following after the other girl. Yasmine ignored her as she opened the door to the second year girl’s room and slammed it in Lexa’s face. “Yaz, please don’t do this.” There wasn’t even a sound on the other side of the door and Lexa felt herself breaking.

“I can’t do this without you!” she tried again, but there was still no answer. Reluctantly, she turned and headed towards her own room. When she arrived, the other unoccupied beds that were there had vanished leaving only Lexa and Octavia’s bed. With a sigh, she threw herself onto the four poster bed and tried not to let herself cry again. As she buried her head into her pillow, she heard the crinkling of parchment. She reached under the pillow, withdrawing her half-heart attempt at a letter to Aden from that morning.

With nothing else to do, Lexa moved to her trunk and grabbed a fresh piece of parchment and her quill.

 

_Aden,_

_I miss you so much. I know it’s only been a short time since I left, but it’s been a rough journey so far. Yasmine was right when she said that Hogwarts wasn’t kind to us nightbloods. I don’t want you to worry though, I’ll be fine. Classes just started today, but I have a feeling that I’ll be struggling through the coursework. Who knew magic would be so hard? I’ll try to send you another letter at the end of the week with more to say. I hope you’re doing well and that Miss Alie isn’t being too hard on you with us gone. Be brave, my little warrior._

_Sincerely, Lexa_

 

It was hurried and the quill kept smudging the end of her words as she wrote, but each word felt like a weight lifted from her shoulders. It didn’t fix anything that had gone wrong that day, but it slightly filled the void in her heart that belonged to missing Aden. She dipped her quill in the ink once more, hand hovering over the parchment as she added the final touches to her letter.

_P.S. Slytherin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst, angst, angst. Things are going to lighten up again the next chapter. And don't worry, there will be some Quidditch in the future.
> 
> Question, would you guys prefer shorter chapters more often or longer chapters like they are roughly updated once a week?

**Author's Note:**

> Wanna come talk Clexa or talk about the story? You can find me on tumblr under the same username.


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